popular sovereignty

noun

1. : a doctrine in political theory that sovereignty is vested in the people as a whole rather than in a particular individual or group (as a ruling dynasty) and as a result that government is created by and subject to the will of the people

establish the doctrine of popular sovereignty as the foundation of modern Europe — Times Literary Supplement

— compare limited 2, majority rule, social contract

2. : a principal doctrine of the pre-Civil War controversy over slavery specifying that the people of a territory like the people of a state should be free to regulate their domestic concerns without Congressional interference; specifically : the doctrine asserting the right of the people living in a newly organized territory to decide by vote of their territorial legislature whether or not slavery would be permitted in the territory

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1. the doctrine that sovereign power is vested in the people and that those chosen to govern, as trustees of such power, must exercise it in conformity with the general will.

2. Amer. Hist. (before the Civil War) a doctrine, held chiefly by the opponents of the abolitionists, that the people living in a territory should be free of federal interference in determining domestic policy, esp. with respect to slavery.

[1840-50, Amer.]

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popular sovereignty,

1. the political principle that sovereignty rests in the people, who rule themselves through their representatives. The French Revolution and the American Revolution were based on the idea of popular sovereignty.

2. U.S. a doctrine advocated before the Civil War that the settlers of new territories had the right to decide in their own legislatures whether or not they wanted slavery; squatter sovereignty.