Sovereigntism

{{Short description|Ideology supporting political independence of a nation or region}}

Sovereigntism, sovereignism or souverainism (from {{langx|fr|souverainisme}}, {{IPA|fr|suvʁɛnism|pron|LL-Q150 (fra)-Lyokoï-souverainisme.wav}}, meaning "the ideology of sovereignty") is the notion of having control over one's conditions of existence, whether at the level of the self, social group, region, nation or globe.{{cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Jonathan |date=2018 |title=A note on populism and global systemic crisis |journal=Economic Anthropology |volume=5 |issue=5 |doi=10.1002/sea2.12108 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322207097 |access-date=2022-07-01|page=136}} Typically used for describing the acquiring or preserving political independence of a nation or a region, a sovereigntist aims to "take back control" from perceived powerful forces,{{sfn|Kallis|2018|p=3}} either against internal subversive minority groups (ethnic, sexual or gender),{{sfnb|Minakov|2022|p=307}} or from external global governance institutions,{{cite journal |last1=Benhabib |first1=Seyla |date=2016 |title=The new sovereigntism and transnational law: Legal utopianism, democratic scepticism and statist realism|journal=Global Constitutionalism|volume= 5|issue=1 |doi=10.1017/S2045381716000010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=109|s2cid=155699112 |doi-access=free}} federalism and supranational unions. It generally leans instead toward isolationism, and can be associated with certain independence movements, but has also been used to justify violating the independence of other nations.{{sfnb|Minakov|2022|p=299}}{{sfnb|Alles|Badie|2016|page=16}}

Classification

Sovereigntism has a cultural as well as political component and can take the form of hostility towards outsiders having different values or different countries or regions of origin.{{cite book |last1=Azmanova |first1= Albena |chapter=Populism and the Recasting of the Ideological Landscape of Liberal Democracies |title=The Palgrave Handbook of Populism |editor1-last=Oswald |editor1-first=Michael |isbn=9783030808037 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-80803-7 |date=2022 |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan- Springer Nature Switzerland AG |location=Cham, Switzerland |edition=e-book|page=383|s2cid= 244164991 }} Sovereigntist groups are associated with populism since they typically claim legitimacy for carrying out the sovereign will of the people.{{sfn|Azmanova|2022|p=167}} While leftist sovereigntists tend to think of their national border as a defensive line against the corrosive effects of neo-liberal economics, right wing sovereigntists see it more as a filter protecting the sovereign people from undesired new members.{{cite journal |last1=Kallis |first1=Aristotle |date=2018 |title=Populism, Sovereigntism, and the Unlikely Re-Emergence of the Territorial Nation-State |journal=Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences |volume=11 |issue=3 |doi=10.1007/s40647-018-0233-z |url= https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40647-018-0233-z.pdf |page=10,14|s2cid=158092242 }}

Though there are wide differences in ideology and historical context between sovereigntist movements, those of the twenty first century can be thought of as belonging to three separate categories: conservative sovereigntism, archeo-sovereigntism, and neo-sovereigntism.{{sfnb|Minakov|2022|p=292}} Conservative sovereignism embraces the national Westphalian model of sovereignty seeking to preserve the interstate order with norms promoting global economic order but halting further advances towards political integration. Some vestiges of colonialism remain, with old powers retaining what they see as historical special responsibilities to intervene in former possessions, such as in the case of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Amongst rising powers, neo-sovereigntism is concerned with issues of autonomism, especially against more privileged nations with concentrated power in transnational entities such as the UN Security Council or G7. It seeks to strengthen norms and agreements protecting the independence of each state, granting their equality, and restraining more powerful states from attempts to influence the behavior of other nations. Archeo-sovereigntism is the most radical, rejecting forces of globalization and restraints on states by transnational bodies, norms and agreements, calling for a return to a pre- World War II order when states were freer from such interference.{{sfnb|Alles|Badie|2016|page=16}} Examples in Europe include the National Rally in France, the Lega Nord in Italy, the Danish People's Party in Denmark, and the UKIP in the UK.

In a paper published in the European Review of International Studies outlining these three major tendencies, researchers Alles and Badie summarised them thus:{{sfnb|Alles|Badie|2016|page=18}}

Contemporary types of sovereigntism	Conception of sovereignty	Claim	Protest	Approach of globalisation
class="wikitable" \|+ Three coexisting types of sovereigntism in the post-bipolar context
Neo-sovereigntism	Self-affirmation	Equality	Hierarchy	Example
Archeo sovereigntism	Specificity	Identity	Globalisation	Antagonist
Conservative sovereigntism	Normative	Hierarchy	Emergence of challengers	Selective

Sovereigntist populist parties in Europe

In Europe, sovereigntist populisms political movements divide (on the one hand) between those that seek to leave the European Union completely (or oppose joining it) and (on the other), those who aim for a "Europe of the nations", a less integrated Europe respecting the individual characteristics and sovereignty of constituent states.{{cite journal |last1=De Spiegeleire |first1=Stephan |last2=Skinner |first2=Clarissa |last3=Sweijs |first3=Tim|last4=Novak |first4=Ekaterina |title= The Rise of Populist Sovereignism: What It Is, Where It Comes from, and What It Means for International Security and Defense |journal=The Rise of Populist Sovereignism |jstor=resrep12603.3 |date=2017 |pages=ii–xvi |publisher=Hague Centre for Strategic Studies }} Supporters of these doctrines tend to regard themselves as Euro-realists opposed to the Euro-federalists and call for a more confederal version of a European Union. (The European Union is not a federation but shares many characteristics of one.) Thus, sovereigntism in Europe is opposed to federalism and typically involves nationalism, particularly in the United Kingdom (which withdrew from the EU in 2020) and in France where parties on the left and right margins lean strongly towards it.

= European Union =

After the 2024 European Parliament election 3 political groups of the European Parliament have been formed which contain sovereignist parties:

European Conservatives and Reformists{{cite web |url=https://www.federalist-debate.org/archive/year-xxxii-number-2-july-2019/editorial/europeanist-parties-prevail-in-european-elections |title=Europeanist Parties Prevail in European Elections |author=Lucio Levi |date= |website= |publisher= |access-date=}}
Europe of Sovereign Nations{{Cite web |date=2024-07-10 |title=Europe of Sovereign Nations, new far-right group |url=https://www.eunews.it/en/2024/07/10/there-is-another-group-in-the-eu-parliament-even-further-to-the-right-than-the-patriots-it-is-europe-of-sovereign-nations/ |access-date=2024-10-24 |language=en-US}}
Patriots for Europe{{cite web | url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-institutions/news/le-rn-devrait-rejoindre-le-groupe-de-viktor-orban-au-parlement-europeen/ | title=French far-right RN set to join Orbán's 'Patriots for Europe' | date=8 July 2024 }}

= France =

National Rally (right-wing nationalist)
The Patriots (Gaullist and right-wing nationalist)
Popular Republican Union (Big tent Right-wing to Far-right politics)

= Germany =

Parties with tendencies that could be described also as sovereigntist can be also found in Germany:

Alternative for Germany (right-wing, nationalist, conservative)

= Greece =

Parties with tendencies that could be described also as sovereigntists can also be found in Greece:

Golden Dawn (ethnic nationalist, neo-fascist)
Popular Orthodox Rally (ethnic nationalist, religious conservatism) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293803821_Populism_in_Greece_The_case_of_the_Popular_Orthodox_Rally_in_the_recent_European_elections_of_May_2014

= Hungary =

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party, in power since 2010, have increasingly followed a sovereigntist policy against the European Union. On December 12, 2023, the Hungarian National Assembly adopted the Sovereignty Protection Act, which creates a new government agency, called the Sovereignty Protection Office, to be established by February 1, 2024. It will have broad powers to investigate alleged attacks on Hungarian sovereignty, including the activities of civic organizations supported from abroad. {{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

= Italy =

Brothers of Italy (National conservatism, Right-wing populism) {{cite web |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4541293 |title=Coherent or Incoherent? Italian Sovereignist Parties in Front of Supranational Crisis Management |author= |date= 15 August 2023|website= |publisher= |ssrn=4541293 |access-date= |quote=}}
Lega (Right-wing populism, Euroscepticism) {{cite web |url=https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PaperDetails/62633 |title=Party Sovereignist Entrepreneurship in EU countries |author= |date= |website= |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}
Five Star Movement (populist, left-wing populism)

= Romania =

Three sovereigntist parties surpassed the 5% electoral threshold to enter the Parliament of Romania in the 2024 Romanian parliamentary election: the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), S.O.S. Romania and the Party of Young People (POT).{{cite news|url=https://romania.europalibera.org/a/analiza-suveranistii-o-forta-redutabila-intr-un-parlament-divizat-negocieri-sub-spectrul-turului-doi-al-prezidentialelor/33223224.html|title=Analiză {{!}} Suveraniștii, o forță redutabilă într-un parlament divizat. Negocieri sub spectrul turului doi al prezidențialelor|first=Andreea|last=Pora|publisher=Radio Europa Liberă România|date=2 December 2024|language=ro}}

=Russia=

Since 2006, Vladimir Putin has espoused the current Russian sovereigntist view of a political, economic, and cultural battle between sovereign peoples of Russia on one side, and on the other- transnational institutions with their neoliberal and cosmopolitan ideologies undermining Russia's sovereignty and cultural existence. In Putinism, the "national wealth" of the multiethnic Russian peoples (its morality, values, memory of its forefathers and its culture) both defines and is protected by its sovereignty. Putin advisor Vladislav Surkov articulated the threat to "sovereign democracy" posed by international organizations serving the interest of NATO, the OSCE, and the unipolar world order controlled by the United States. According to the ideology of Putinism, Georgian and Ukrainian sovereignty could not be respected since it had already been lost due to their color revolutions, seen as a collapse of borders protecting them from being engulfed culturally, economically and politically by Europe and the West.{{sfnb|Minakov|2022||page=306-307}} As a cultural and political protector against threatening Western powers, the idea of a sovereign union of multiple peoples under Russia's leadership has been employed as a legitimation theory for imperial expansion. This usage predates the Soviet Union, tracing back to Pan-Slavism's origins in the 16th century, later becoming integrated with Russian nationalism, imperialism and Orthodox messianism in the 19th century.{{cite journal |last1=Suslov |first1=Mikhail |date= 2013-05-15 |title=Geographical Metanarratives in Russia and the European East: Contemporary Pan-Slavism |journal=Eurasian Geography and Economics |volume=53 |issue=5 |pages=575–595 |doi=10.2747/1539-7216.53.5.575 |s2cid=155015782 |url= https://www.academia.edu/33711177 |access-date=2022-06-29}}{{cite book |last1=Van Herpen|first1=Marcel H.|title=Putin's Wars: The Rise of Russia's New Imperialism |isbn=9781442231382|date=2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|location= |edition=e-book|pages=37–38 }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TC8EAwAAQBAJ |title=Putin's Wars: The Rise of Russia's New Imperialism |last=Van Herpen |first=Marcel H. |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4422-3138-2|pages=35–43 }}

=Spain=

In the Parliament of Catalonia, parties explicitly supporting independence from Spain are Together for Catalonia (JxCat), heir of the former Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC); Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), and Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP).{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Sam |date=2024-05-12 |title=Separatist parties set to lose power in Catalan regional election, polls show |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/12/catalonia-polls-vote-gauge-support-independence-spain |access-date=2024-07-30 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

= United Kingdom =

Parties with policies that could be described as sovereigntist can be also found in United Kingdom; notably by Reform UK and the Johnson-led Conservative Party (UK) (with respect to the European Union through hard Brexit), the Scottish National Party and {{Lang|cy|Plaid Cymru}} (Party of Wales), and {{Lang|ga|Sinn Féin}} in Northern Ireland.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-08 |title=Reform UK Manifesto |url=https://assets.nationbuilder.com/reformuk/pages/253/attachments/original/1718625371/Reform_UK_Our_Contract_with_You.pdf?1718625371a |access-date=2024-07-08}}{{Cite web |date=2020-02-18 |title=Separatism on the rise: The role of regional resources |url=https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/separatism-rise-role-regional-resources |access-date=2024-06-21 |website=CEPR |language=en}}McGovern, Clare J., Separatist Parties in National Parliaments: The Scottish National Party and the Bloc Québécois (2009). APSA 2009 Toronto Meeting Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1451747{{Cite news | author = Roy Reed |date=1977-04-22 |title=In Land of Plaid Cymru, Wales Is Very Much a Nation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/22/archives/in-land-of-plaid-cymru-wales-is-very-much-a-nation.html |access-date=2024-06-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite journal |last=Macfarlane |first=Leslie |date=March 1990 |title=The right to self-determination in Ireland and the justification of IRA violence |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09546559008427049 |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=35–53 |doi=10.1080/09546559008427049 |issn=0954-6553|url-access=subscription }}

North America

= Canada =

In the Canadian province of Quebec, souverainisme or sovereigntism refers to the Quebec sovereignty movement, which argues for Quebec to separate from Canada and become an independent country. Many leaders in the movement, notably René Lévesque, have preferred the terms "sovereignty" and "sovereigntist" over other common names such as separatist or independentist, although this terminology may be objected to by opponents.

== Quebec ==

{{cite web | url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/10/quebec-sovereignty-polling-00086428 | title=338Canada: Why Quebec sovereigntists are looking up | website=Politico | date=10 March 2023 }}

Parti Québécois (centre-left, nationalist and social democratic)
Bloc Québécois (centre-left, nationalist and social democratic, represents Quebec separatism in Canada's federal parliament)
Option nationale (centre-left, nationalist and progressive)
Québec solidaire (left-wing, democratic socialist)

=United States=

Coupled with its history of isolationism and sense of American exceptionalism, US sovereigntism is largely a conservative perspective, celebrating both American self-definition and liberty to engage in unilateral action.{{cite journal |last1=Resnick |first1=Judith |date= January 2008|title= Law as Affiliation: Foreign Law, Democratic Federalism, and the Sovereigntism of the Nation-State |journal= International Journal of Constitutional Law |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=34–35|doi=10.1093/icon/mom033 |url=https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/6/1/33/669037 |access-date=2022-07-01}} Sovereigntism in foreign policy is charactized by opposition to multilateral regimes relating to climate change, war crimes, arms control and international declaration of human rights.{{cite journal |last1=Spiro |first1=Peter J. |date=2000 |title=The New Sovereigntists: American Exceptionalism and Its False Prophets |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=79 |issue=6 |pages=9–15 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20049963|doi=10.2307/20049963 |jstor=20049963 |url-access=subscription }}

The dominant US sovereigntist perspective is currently that of Trumpism{{sfnb|Minakov|2022|p=297}}{{cite news |last1=Ash |first1= Timothy Garton |date=2018-09-28 |title=It's not just Trump. Much of America has turned its back on Europe |work= The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/28/trump-america-europe-united-states |access-date=2022-07-02}} and has three dimensions:{{cite journal |last1=Ettinger |first1=Aaron |date=2020 |title= Principled realism and populist sovereignty in Trump's foreign policy |journal=Cambridge Review of International Affairs |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=410–431 |doi=10.1080/09557571.2019.1659229|s2cid=203085341 }}

World order and peace is best secured by sovereign states looking after themselves, as opposed to the rules-based international order of interdependent and integrated countries.
The needs of the American people come first before any other concern of government. Any other prioritization violates the sovereignty of the people.
Sovereigntism is used partisan weapon, where anyone who differs with Trumpian formulations of sovereignty are identified as political enemies.

A more extreme conservative view of popular sovereignty involves a radical unwinding of centralized government and an expansion of regional sovereignty, where freedoms are controlled at the local level, not adjudicated at the federal level. From the perspective of the Tea Party and continuing among followers of Trumpism, the populist concept of the sovereign people refers exclusively to a specifically defined community that "invites people of different backgrounds to unite under a common 'American' sense of self". Similar to the perspective of Putinism, those individuals who maintain a separate minority identity are not only excluded, but are regarded as a threat to the majority's sovereignty, especially when they seek legal redress for violation of their human rights as defined by constitutional and international norms.{{sfnb|Minakov|2022|pp=295–296, 305}}