TY - BOOK AU - Schupmann,Benjamin A. TI - Carl Schmitt's state and constitutional theory: a critical analysis T2 - Oxford Constitutional Theory SN - 9780198791614 AV - KK4710 .S38 2017 PY - 2017/// CY - Oxford PB - Oxford University Press KW - Schmitt, Carl, KW - Schmitt, Carl KW - 1888-1985 KW - Verfassungslehre KW - Constitutional history KW - Germany KW - 20th century KW - Political science KW - Philosophy KW - State, The KW - fast KW - Politics and government KW - 1918-1933 KW - gtt KW - History N1 - Based on the author's thesis (doctoral - Columbia University, 2015) issued under title: Leviathan run aground: Carl Schmitt's state theory and militant democracy; Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-235) and index; Introduction; Constitutionality and the Weimar crisis --; The challenge of mass democracy --; The concept of the political --; The absolute state --; The absolute constitution --; The guardian of the constitution --; Basic rights --; Conclusion; Carl Schmitt and constrained democracy N2 - "Can a constitutional democracy commit suicide? Can an illiberal antidemocratic party legitimately obtain power through democratic elections and amend liberalism and democracy out of the constitution entirely? In Weimar Germany, these theoretical questions were both practically and existentially relevant. By 1932, the Nazi and Communist parties combined held a majority of seats in parliament. Neither accepted the legitimacy of liberal democracy. Their only reason for participating democratically was to amend the constitution out of existence. This book analyses Carl Schmitt's state and constitutional theory and shows how it was conceived in response to the Weimar crisis. Right-wing and left-wing political extremists recognized that a path to legal revolution lay in the Weimar constitution's combination of democratic procedures, total neutrality toward political goals, and positive law. Schmitt's writings sought to address the unique problems posed by mass democracy. Schmitt's thought anticipated 'constrained' or 'militant' democracy, a type of constitution that guards against subversive expressions of popular sovereignty and whose mechanisms include the entrenchment of basic constitutional commitments and party bans. Schmitt's state and constitutional theory remains important: the problems he identified continue to exist within liberal democratic states. Schmitt offers democrats today a novel way to understand the legitimacy of liberal democracy and the limits of constitutional change."--Page two of cover ER -