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Articles

Vol. 28 No. 2 (2008)

Schmitt’s lesson: constituent power, sovereignty and the monarchical principle

Submitted
January 12, 2020
Published
2020-01-11

Abstract

This paper examines Schmitt’s definition of the sovereign as the political agent who decides on the exception (Political Theology, 1922). In his Verfassungslehre (1928) Schmitt does not delve on the issue of sovereignty because he recognizes that the spirit of the Weimar Constitution is defined by constitutional liberalism. But he also sees that constituent power is the surrogate of sovereignty and as such expresses the political. Andreas Kalyvas, following Arendt, accepts the connection between constituent power and sovereignty, and reaffirms the democratic core of the notion of constituent power. Like Schmitt, he highlights its creative and participatory potential, but does not take into account that for Schmitt the people is not the only subject of constituent power. The monarchical principle, understood as a true political form, can also claim that role. In 1933, with Schmitt’s direct collaboration, Hitler activated the monarchische Prinzip as he became the subject of the Führerprinzip.