the ideal of popular sovereignty人民主权的理想
N(名词) (in the pre-Civil War US) the doctrine that the inhabitants of a territory should be free from federal interference in determining their own domestic policy, esp in deciding whether or not to allow slavery (美国内战前)民众主权; 认为一个领土的居民应该摆脱联邦干涉,自由决定内政,尤其是决定是否允许奴隶制度