true mark of sovereignty

is the attributes held by a sovereign which are not shared by subjects, such as the right to make or change laws, to wage war, to print money, to impose taxes, to change the language, to pardon as he likes.

The violent and yet precarious character of sovereign power was expressed even more clearly in Jean Bodin's earlier discussion of what he called the 'true marks of sovereignty.' As Bodin puts it: 'To be able to recognize such a person that is, a sovereign we have to know his attributes (marques) which are properties not shared by subjects. For if they were shared, there would be no sovereign prince' (Bodin 1992, 46). These marks were not necessarily bodily marks or forms of dress but first and foremost a specific type of actions that by their resolve and sheer force affirmed the status of the sovereign power as indivisible, transcendent, and self-referring. Bodin enumerates ten different marks, or abilities, that mark sovereign power: to give laws and change them at will (without consent of the subjects)... to wage war against opponents or enemies of the state... to appoint the highest officials of the state only at its own will... to have the last judgment (dernier ressort) in legal disputes and thus also the power to pardon and grant freedom to prisoners irrespective of the law... to coin and validate money within the state... to impose tax on subjects or to delegate that right to officials or lesser lords... to confiscate land and assets... to use a royal seal to validate and authorize... to change the language of his subjects... and to reserve the exclusive right for himself to bear the title of 'majesty' (46-88). (Blom Hansen 7)

true mark of sovereignty, n.All

true mark of sovereignty