What question did this study set out to answer?

To analyze Carl Schmitt's statement on sovereignty and its implications for constitutional theories of emergency powers.

January 1, 1997

The Dilemmas of Dictatorship: Carl Schmitt and Constitutional Emergency Powers

Key Points

To analyze Carl Schmitt's statement on sovereignty and its implications for constitutional theories of emergency powers.
Examine Schmitt's Political Theology and its context in Weimar political thought.
Discuss the relevance of Schmitt's ideas for contemporary theories of constitutional emergency powers.
Identified the influence of Schmitt's conception of sovereignty on constitutional theory.
Revealed implications for modern interpretations of emergency powers in legal frameworks.

Abstract

The first line of Carl Schmitt's Political Theology is perhaps the most famous sentence—certainly one of the most infamous—in German political theory: “Sovereign is he who decides on the exception” Souverän ist, wer über den Ausnahmezustand entscheidet . And yet the full significance of this famous sentence is often underestimated. I intend to focus upon 1) its significance in the overall trajectory of Schmitt's Weimar work, and 2) its potential significance for contemporary constitutional theories of emergency powers.

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Journals

Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence

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