(a)Differentiate between legal sovereignty and political sovereignty.
(b) What factors limit the sovereignty of a government?
Explanation
(a) The other name for political sovereignty is popular sovereignty and it is the supreme power of the people to decide the type of government they desire. This decision of the people is exercised through the ballot. It gives them a free hand to decide those capable of representing them in government by transfering the powers they have to them. Legal sovereignty on the other hand is the power exercised by a body in a state. This body is the Parliament. The parliament only has the power to make laws. So, legal sovereignty is with the Parliament. The parliament also has the power to amend the constitution.
(b). Factors that limit the Sovereignty of a Government include:
(i) The constitution: The supremacy of the constitution makes it possible for all institutions in the state to have their powers limited by the constitution. The law of the land should be above everybody in a state.
(ii) Membership of international organisation: As long as countries belong to international organisations, e.g. U.N.O., 0.A.U., ECOWAS, limitations are.placed on the sovereignty of these countries. It is incumbent on them to abide by the policies of these organisations and rules governing them.
(iii) Public opinion: Public opinion has the capacity to check and control the excesses of the powers of government.
(iv) International laws: States have to abide by international laws and conventions. So these laws place limitations on the sovereignty of states.
(v) Foreign aids: Some poor nations of the world receive aids e.g. military, economic aids etc. of different types from developed countries, It is possible for these donor countries to dictate the economic policies of these poor countries.
(vi) The influence of super powers: The West or the East has very strong influence over weaker or smaller countries. The external policies of these weak and small countries are made in line with the influence of these super powers.
(vii) The Military take-over of government: This tends to limit the sovereignty of states. The suspension of the constitution after forceful take-over of power affects the location of sovereignty in a state.
(viii) Delegation of power in modern government: In modern states, powers are transferred or delegated to some other bodies or organisations. For example, the transfer of lawmaking from parliament to other bodies, e.g. NEPA, limits the sovereign power of the parliament.