This Palgrave Pivot offers a balanced and impartial commentary on one of the most important of the early writings by the German legal scholar Carl Schmitt. The book is known mostly by its title Politische Theologie but Schmittâs subtitle indicated that his book was on more than political theology, but was focused on conceptions of sovereignty, authority, and the âstate of exceptionâ. The author shows how the Politische Theologie published in 1922 clearly formulated Schmittâs thinking regarding decisionism, dictatorship, and sovereignty, and how these notions intertwined to propose a governmental model opposed to parliamentary democracy. The book illuminates Carl Schmittâs role in theorising the âstate of exceptionâ as he engaged in debates with those who contended that democratic principles were crucial. Schmitt insisted there needs to be a sovereign individual whose authority provides an immediate decision to the âstate of exception.â This book will be of interest to scholars of legal and political philosophy, as well as those interested broadly in ideas of classical liberalism, wartime political economy, authoritarianism and socio-economic influences on legal thinking.
