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Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the right of a political entity to exercise power.

In international law, sovereignty is a key concept, referring to the right of a nation-state to exercise its powers.

(A monarch, who rules a sovereign country, is also called a sovereign.)

Tribal sovereignty refers to the right of federally recognized American Indian nations or tribes to maintain independent political entities (nations) and exercise power and on reservations.

Sovereignty and Federalism

In federal systems of government, such as that of the United States, sovereignty also refers to powers the state-government has independently of the federal government.

The question whether the individual states of the Union remained sovereign was debated in USA:

Quotes from Encyclopędia Britannica.
See also: colonization, globalization