What do you mean by "a statist believes the sovereignty of a nation lies with the government and not with the people"?
It seems to me that the word "statist" implies a context/framework in which the state, as a coercive institution, is separated from the rest of society which is non-coercive. In this context, a statist is one who favors the state or equivalently, a statist prefers to solve social problems by relying on force rather than cooperation.
It seems to me that most people don't think in these terms. They don't distinguish between the state and everything else. Rather they think pragmatically: "How can I have a better life?" or "What's good for my country?" Lessig seems to fall in this group. So for example, he sees that copyright law is not encouraging an innovative society, and therefore he wants to change the law. Or he sees that government is acting in the best interest of corporations rather than "ordinary" folks and so he tries to change that. He's not thinking in terms of strengthening or weakening the "coercive institution of the state."
Analogous situations: Most web developers think in terms of solving technical problems, "how can I get this page to look a certain way?", rather than being standards compliant. Most general consumers think in terms of comfort, convenience, value, etc, rather than "green" (what's good for the environment) or patriotically (buy American).
So when Lessig is called a statist, he is being characterized in the framework implied by the term, which is not the framework in which he thinks.
It seems to me that the word "statist" implies a context/framework in which the state, as a coercive institution, is separated from the rest of society which is non-coercive. In this context, a statist is one who favors the state or equivalently, a statist prefers to solve social problems by relying on force rather than cooperation.
It seems to me that most people don't think in these terms. They don't distinguish between the state and everything else. Rather they think pragmatically: "How can I have a better life?" or "What's good for my country?" Lessig seems to fall in this group. So for example, he sees that copyright law is not encouraging an innovative society, and therefore he wants to change the law. Or he sees that government is acting in the best interest of corporations rather than "ordinary" folks and so he tries to change that. He's not thinking in terms of strengthening or weakening the "coercive institution of the state."
Analogous situations: Most web developers think in terms of solving technical problems, "how can I get this page to look a certain way?", rather than being standards compliant. Most general consumers think in terms of comfort, convenience, value, etc, rather than "green" (what's good for the environment) or patriotically (buy American).
So when Lessig is called a statist, he is being characterized in the framework implied by the term, which is not the framework in which he thinks.