Who introduced the modern concept of "Sovereignty" into political theory?

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks who first brought the modern concept of "sovereignty" into political theory. This is about the origin of the idea, not who developed it further.

Step 2: Explain the concept Sovereignty means the supreme, absolute, and perpetual power of a state to make laws and enforce them, without being subject to any higher authority within its territory.

Step 3: Review the options

• A. Jean-Jacques Rousseau developed the idea of popular sovereignty, which holds that sovereignty rests in the "general will" of the people. He was not the first to introduce the concept.
• B. Jean Bodin, a 16th-century French political philosopher, first systematically defined sovereignty in his work Six Books of the Commonwealth (1576). He described it as the "absolute and perpetual power of a commonwealth."
• C. Jeremy Bentham was a utilitarian thinker known for "the greatest happiness of the greatest number." He is not the originator of sovereignty.
• D. John Locke is known for natural rights, limited government, and the social contract. He is not the originator of sovereignty.
• E. Thomas Hobbes argued for an absolute sovereign in Leviathan (1651). He developed the idea, but Bodin came first.

Step 4: Answer Jean Bodin introduced the modern concept of sovereignty.

Exam tip: Remember the sequence Bodin → Hobbes → Locke → Rousseau. Bodin introduced sovereignty, Hobbes made it absolute, Locke limited it, and Rousseau gave it to the people. When a question says "introduced" or "father of" sovereignty, think Bodin.