semisovereign

Semisovereign is a term used in political science and international law to describe a polity that exercises a degree of sovereignty but is not fully sovereign. In this usage, a semisovereign entity typically has substantial internal autonomy—including self-government in legislation, administration, and taxation—while remaining subject to certain controls or dependencies imposed by a more powerful state or supranational authority. The concept sits between fully sovereign states and dependent or subordinate territories.

There are different models of semisovereignty. One common model involves autonomous regions or subnational units within a federal or unitary state that manage most internal affairs but delegate defense, foreign policy, or other external competencies to a central government. Another model covers dependent or special-status territories that enjoy broad internal autonomy yet lack full international personality or independent treaty-making power. In some discussions, semi-sovereignty is used to describe regions with significant self-rule under a national sovereignty claim, such as areas that maintain internal governance while remaining under the sovereignty of a larger state.

Examples cited in scholarship include regions with broad internal autonomy under a central authority, such as Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” framework, or Scotland within the United Kingdom in debates about devolved powers. The terminology is often informal and contested; different authors may emphasize different aspects of sovereignty, such as legal personality, external representation, or defense and foreign policy.

Because semisovereignty is not a fixed legal category, its definition and applicability vary by context, and it is typically used descriptively rather than as a precise constitutional label.