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‘Sovereignty’ is a term from political theory. It is the ultimate authority or power possessed by a state as an embodiment of its political community. Sovereignty represents the will of the people, which is theoretically absolute and unfettered. It is the supreme political authority which a state exercises within its territory. States exercise these powers without any restrictions from other states. This is the meaning of political independence.
State, in this sense, needs to be distinguished from government. Governments are temporary and hold office for certain specified periods; and in democracies, they may be replaced by other governments after elections. However, a state is permanent, and lives as long as the political community which it represents.
Political theorists commonly use sovereignty in three contexts. From an international legal perspective, it refers to the terms of the reciprocal recognition that states accord one another in the international politicalorder. In itsreference to domesticpolityof a state, it meansthe ultimatesource of legal or constitutional authority. Empirically, it means effective capacity to exercise unilateral control over various fields of activity and to formulate policies unilaterally.