Derecho y poder en la crisis de la soberanía

Resumen

The concept of sovereignty has had different meanings throughout its history. Due to problems related to the complexity of contemporary political life, it has also become a contentious concept. The paper thematizes the problems of the appearance and crisis of the concept of sovereignty, as well as of its effective practice, in its juridical and political aspects. In the contemporary scene, the main problem consists in the appearance of a conflict between the concepts of right and power. For some critics, they even ought to be seen as mutually excluding. This paper employs as analytical framework the relation of the concept of sovereignty to those of right and power. The basic claim is that such a framework is useful to elaborate on the conception of sovereignty that is present in the main tradition of Western political thought, as well as to clarify the complexity of its meanings. Finally, this kind of analysis allows us to clarify the difficulties facing political theory when it tries to put forward a valid notion of sovereignty.