SHAPES OF SOVEREIGNTY – VISION AND ROLE OF THE NATION-STATE IN POSTMODERN TIMES

Abstract

The paper concentrates on the idea of sovereignty and its specific shapes in our present times. It shows that today there are many questions connected with the idea. The questions relate to the validity of functioning of state organizations, reciprocal relations between states and the useful form of statehood optimal for the contemporary western world. The paper also shows some relations on the international arena with special emphasis on the contrast between the United States and the European Union. It discusses selected theoretical differences between those two composites concentrating on realistic and idealistic points of view. The paper asks about the appropriate model of sovereignty in times of growing deficit of democracy.