This volume re-examines popular sovereignty, a vital principle of modern politics jeopardized by deepening polarization and the global rise of authoritarian populism. Eighteen cutting-edge contributions from scholars and practitioners engage with the dilemmas of popular sovereignty through interdisciplinary approaches and perspectives.

Introduction Ewa Atanassow, Thomas Bartscherer and David Bateman; Part I. 1. Plato and the problems of modern politics Thomas Bartscherer; 2. The sovereign and the tyrant: boundaries and violation in oedipus Elizabeth K. Markovits; 3. The fact of fiction: Popular sovereignty as belief and reality Ioannis D. Evrigenis; 4. Thomas hobbes and the making of popular sovereignty Richard Boyd; 5. Popular sovereignty on trial: Tocqueville vs Schmitt Ewa Atanassow; Part II. 6. 'As god rules the universe': reflections on the people and the state in early America Ira Katznelson; 7. The sovereign people and the liberal democratic state David A. Bateman; 8. Three vignettes: popular sovereignty in French history Daniella Sarnoff; 9. The founding of India and popular sovereignty Ornit Shani; 10. The 'other' boundary problem: fictions of popular sovereignty at the state's edge Matthew Longo; 11. The #BlackLivesMatter movement and black public opinion: a new populist divide in the black community? Alvin B. Tillery; 12. Popular sovereignty and recognition H. Abbie Erler; 13. Populism, popular sovereignty, and periphery Julia R. Azari and Alexis Nemecek; Part III. 14. The place of constitutional courts in regimes embracing popular sovereignty: recent problems in American Self-Governance Carol Nackenoff; 15. Popular sovereignty, populism, and stories of peoplehood Rogers M. Smith; 16. Popular Sovereignty in the Trump Era: a case study of pedagogy and practice Nicole Mellow and Andrew J. Perrin; 17. The voices of the people Adam Davis.