人民主权论又称为国民主权说，主张国家主权归全体人民所有，政府应由人民产生并服从人民的意志。亦即「人民是国家的主人」。理论基础来源于启蒙运动，伴随18、19世纪民权思想而来。

洛克、卢梭等人依自然法及契约论观点，否定君权神授说、主张主权属全体国民，国民公意即是国家主权之所在。虽其后被国家主权说、法律主权说等理论挑战，但仍是现今主流的主权论点，并驳斥法律主权说（国会主权说）；盖因国会既由国民选出、无法背离公意，即代表国民行使主权的机关。

国民主权之体现，除了国会以外，亦可经由全体公民投票表达公意。既使采「国会主权」（Parliamentary sovereignty）的英国及新西兰，仍不免以全国公投解决重大争议。

Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people's rule is the principle that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives (Rule by the People), who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with social contract philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Popular sovereignty expresses a concept and does not necessarily reflect or describe a political reality. It is usually contrasted with the concept of parliamentary sovereignty, and with individual sovereignty. The people have the final say in government decisions. Benjamin Franklin expressed the concept when he wrote, "In free governments, the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns".