Legality and Legitimacy

by Schmitt, Carl; Seitzer, Jeffrey; McCormick, John P.

• ISBN13: 9780822331742
• ISBN10: 0822331748
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-02-01
• Publisher: Duke Univ Pr

Summary

Carl Schmitt ranks among the most original and controversial political thinkers of the twentieth century. His incisive criticisms of Enlightenment political thought and liberal political practice remain as shocking and significant today as when they first appeared in Weimar Germany. Unavailable in English until now,Legality and Legitimacywas composed in 1932, in the midst of the crisis that would lead to the collapse of the Weimar Republic and only a matter of months before Schmittrs"s collaboration with the Nazis. In this important work, Schmitt questions the political viability of liberal constitutionalism, parliamentary government, and the rule of law. Liberal governments, he argues, cannot respond effectively to challenges by radical groups like the Nazis or Communists. Only a presidential regime subject to few, if any, practical limitations can ensure domestic security in a highly pluralistic society.Legality and Legitimacyis sure to provide a compelling reference point in contemporary debates over the challenges facing constitutional democracies today. In addition to Jeffrey Seitzerrs"s translation of the 1932 text itself, this volume contains his translation of Schmittrs"s 1958 commentary on the work, extensive explanatory notes, and an appendix including selected articles of the Weimar constitution. John P. McCormickrs"s introduction placesLegality and Legitimacyin its historical context, clarifies some of the intricacies of the argument, and ultimately contests Schmittrs"s claims regarding the inherent weakness of parliamentarism, constitutionalism, and the rule of law.

Table of Contents

Translator's Preface	ix
Identifying or Exploiting the Paradoxes of Constitutional Democracy? An Introduction to Carl Schmitt's Legality and Legitimacy
JOHN P. McCORMICK	xiii
Legality and Legitimacy
Introduction: The Legislative State System of Legality Corn-pared to Other State Types (Jurisdiction, Governmental, and Administrative Staten	3	(14)
I The System of Legality of the Parliamentary Legislative State
1. The Legislative State and the Concept of Law	17	(10)
2. Legality and the Equal Chance for Achieving Political Power	27	(12)
II The Three Extraordinary Lawgivers of the Weimar Constitution
3. The Extraordinary Lawgiver Ratione Materiae: The Second Principal Part of the Weimar Constitution as a Second Constitution	39	(20)
4. The Extraordinary Lawgiver Ratione Supremitatis: Actual Meaning-Plebiscitary Legitimacy instead of Legislative State Legality	59	(8)
5. The Extraordinary Lawgiver Ratione Necessitates: Actual Meaning-The Administrative State Measure Displaces the Parliamentary Legislative State Statute	67	(18)
Conclusion	85	(10)
Afterword (1958)	95	(8)
Appendix: Selected Articles of the Weimar Constitution	103	(6)
Notes	109	(52)
Works Cited by Carl Schmitt in Legality and Legitimacy	161	(4)
Index	165