The book examines the intellectual history of the concept of sovereignty from a sociological perspective. Informed by the sociologists Max Weber and Niklas Luhmann, it addresses the concept as the centre of constitutional controversy and as a resource to deal with paradoxes of power in constitutional democracies. It discusses the dilemmas of sovereignty that appear in the wake of the emphasis on political representation, human rights and European integration. The book marks a significant contribution to the scholarly debate on the foundation of constitutional democracy. -- .