Question

According to John Austin, the relationship between the sovereign and political independent society is:

• A. Symmetrical
• B. Asymmetrical
• C. Elliptical
• D. Relative

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

The Correct Option is (C): Elliptical.

Answer 2

The question asks how John Austin describes the relationship between the sovereign and the political independent society over which the sovereign rules, one of the more abstract points in his command theory of law. Comparing each label against how Austin frames sovereignty in "The Province of Jurisprudence Determined" answers it.

1. Symmetrical: a symmetrical relationship would mean the sovereign and society owe each other identical, mirrored duties, but Austin's sovereign is by definition the one who commands and is habitually obeyed, while not itself habitually obeying any other determinate human superior. That one sided structure rules out a straightforward symmetrical reading.
2. Asymmetrical: this comes closer, since obedience runs from the bulk of society up to the sovereign without an equal command running back down in the same form, but Austin's own description of the relationship is more specific than a generic asymmetry, he frames it through the idea that sovereignty and independent political society are correlative terms that define each other without being identical in kind.
3. Elliptical: Austin describes the bond between sovereign and society as elliptical because, like an ellipse with two foci rather than one centre, sovereignty is defined around two related but distinct reference points, the sovereign who commands and receives habitual obedience, and the independent political society that habitually obeys but is not itself a single commanding will. Neither point alone fully defines the relationship, it takes both together, which is the sense in which Austin's account is elliptical rather than built around one single centre.
4. Relative: while sovereignty is in one loose sense a relative concept, defined against the society that obeys it, this generic label does not capture the specific two centred structure Austin's theory is being described with, which is why the more precise term is preferred.

Austin's account defines the sovereign and the independent political society as two connected but distinct reference points rather than a single symmetrical bond, which is the structure captured by calling the relationship elliptical.

So the correct answer is Elliptical.