Description
Popular Sovereignty and the Crisis of German Constitutional Law is a historical analysis of competing doctrines of constitutional law during the Weimar Republic. It chronicles the creation of a new constitutional jurisprudence both adequate to the needs of a modern welfare state and based on the principle of popular sovereignty. Peter C. Caldwell explores the legal nature of democracy as debated by Weimar's political theorists and constitutional lawyers. Laying the groundwork for questions about constitutional law in today's Federal Republic, this book draws clear and insightful distinctions between strands of positivist and anti-positivist legal thought, and examines their implications for legal and political theory.
Caldwell makes accessible the rich literature in German constitutional thought of the Weimar period, most of which has been unavailable in English until now. On the liberal left, Hugo Preuss and Hans Kelsen defended a concept of democracy that made the constitution sovereign and, in a way, created the "Volk" through constitutional procedure. On the right, Carl Schmitt argued for a substantial notion of the "Volk" that could overrule constitutional procedure in a state of emergency. Rudolf Smend and Heinrich Triepel located in the constitution a set of inviolable values of the political community, while Hermann Heller saw in it a guarantee of substantial social equality. Drawing on the work of these major players from the 1920s, Caldwell reveals the various facets of the impassioned constitutional struggles that permeated German legal and political culture during the Weimar Republic.
About the Author
Reviews
"A searching examination and critical analysis of the debates in Germany over the meaning and interpretation of the constitution during the Weimar years. No other book in English, so far as I know, treats Weimar constitutionalism with the depth and analytical power of this study. What an admirable study of intellectual history this book is!"-Donald P. Kommers, University of Notre Dame
"An outstanding contribution to the literature on 20th-century Germany and its political/legal theory."-Ellen Kennedy, University of Pennsylvania
Book Information
ISBN 9780822319887
Author Peter C. Caldwell
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Duke University Press
Publisher Duke University Press
Weight(grams) 594g
Caldwell makes accessible the rich literature in German constitutional thought of the Weimar period, most of which has been unavailable in English until now. On the liberal left, Hugo Preuss and Hans Kelsen defended a concept of democracy that made the constitution sovereign and, in a way, created the "Volk" through constitutional procedure. On the right, Carl Schmitt argued for a substantial notion of the "Volk" that could overrule constitutional procedure in a state of emergency. Rudolf Smend and Heinrich Triepel located in the constitution a set of inviolable values of the political community, while Hermann Heller saw in it a guarantee of substantial social equality. Drawing on the work of these major players from the 1920s, Caldwell reveals the various facets of the impassioned constitutional struggles that permeated German legal and political culture during the Weimar Republic.
About the Author
Peter C. Caldwell is Associate Professor of History and German Studies at Rice University.
Reviews
"A searching examination and critical analysis of the debates in Germany over the meaning and interpretation of the constitution during the Weimar years. No other book in English, so far as I know, treats Weimar constitutionalism with the depth and analytical power of this study. What an admirable study of intellectual history this book is!"-Donald P. Kommers, University of Notre Dame
"An outstanding contribution to the literature on 20th-century Germany and its political/legal theory."-Ellen Kennedy, University of Pennsylvania
Book Information
ISBN 9780822319887
Author Peter C. Caldwell
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Duke University Press
Publisher Duke University Press
Weight(grams) 594g
