Consumer sovereignty is the economic concept that the consumer has some controlling power over goods that are produced, and that the consumer is the best judge of their own welfare.
Consumer sovereignty in production is the controlling power of consumers, versus the holders of scarce resources, in what final products should be produced from these resources. It is sometimes used as a hypothesis that the production of goods and services is determined by the consumers' demand (rather than, say, by capital owners or producers).[1]
Consumer sovereignty in welfare is the idea that the consumer is the best judge of their own welfare (rather than, say, politicians). It is used to claim that, for example, the government should help the poor by giving them monetary transfers, rather than by giving them products that are deemed "essential" by the politicians.[2]