self-determination

/ˈsɛlf dɪˌtɜrmɪˈneɪʃən/

/sɛlfdɪtəmɪˈneɪʃən/

In politics, self-determination is the process of citizens choosing their own government. On a personal level, self-determination is making choices and controlling your own life.

Living with self-determination means deciding (or determining) for yourself and exerting some control over the things you do and the choices you make. This is the original sense of the word, first used in the 1680s. As a political concept, self-determination was popularized by President Woodrow Wilson at the end of the 19th century. It's an accepted idea today in international law that all people have a right to self-determination, freely choosing their leaders.

Definitions of self-determination

1. noun

   the free choice of one's own goals and actions, without being forced by anybody or anything else
   type of:

   discretion, free will

   the power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies
2. noun

   government by a country's own people rather than by an outside power
   synonyms: self-government, self-rule

   types:

   sovereignty

   government free from external control

   local option

   freedom of a local government to determine by popular vote the applicability of a controversial law in their jurisdiction

   home rule

   self-government in local matters by a city or county that is part of a national government

   type of:

   autonomy, liberty

   immunity from arbitrary exercise of authority: political independence