<P> During the brief period of absolute monarchies in Europe, the divine right of kings was an important competing justification for the exercise of sovereignty . The Mandate of Heaven had some similar implications in China . </P> <P> A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, retain sovereignty over the government and where offices of state are not granted through heritage . A common modern definition of a republic is a government having a head of state who is not a monarch . </P> <P> Democracy is based on the concept of popular sovereignty . In a direct democracy the public plays an active role in shaping and deciding policy . Representative democracy permits a transfer of the exercise of sovereignty from the people to a legislative body or an executive (or to some combination of legislature, executive and Judiciary). Many representative democracies provide limited direct democracy through referendum, initiative, and recall . </P> <P> Parliamentary sovereignty refers to a representative democracy where the parliament is ultimately sovereign and not the executive power nor the judiciary . </P>

Where does sovereignty reside in different systems of government