№ 3 - 2001
Degtyareva M.I.
The Notion of Sovereignty in J. de Mestre’s Political Philosophy

Clearing up common and differing features in the approaches of J. de Mestre and of J.Bodin to the problem of sovereignty, the author gives an account of, and critically analyzes, de Mestre’s arguments against the theory of the people’s sovereignty. The philosopher’s own concept of national-monarchic balance is likewise characterized. It is, furthermore, demonstrated what great importance he attached to anciency and traditionality as most essential indications of sovereign power. As the author concludes, it was, in fact, not so much devising a theory of sovereignty that he was engaged in, as substantiating the right to sovereignty attributed to a particular object of his political preference.