The volume âVon Staat zu Staatlichkeitâ, edited by Gunnar Folke Schuppert, wants âto supplement the overly narrow concept of the state with the concept of statehood” â or even to replace it and thus pursue âStaatlichkeitswissenschaftâ (statehood studies) rather than the traditional âStaatswissenschaftâ (state studies). It aims at overcoming the problem that many political entities â nowadays, yet also throughout history â do not fulfil criteria such as full sovereignty, territorial integrity, a legitimate government or efficient bureaucracy, derived from the idealised, so-called post-1648 âWestphalian Stateâ or its OECD update. The semantic shift from state to statehood provides a means to avoid a simplifying either/or-approach, enabling a nuanced view on forms of governance, because most, if not all these supposedly deficient entities will show at least some degrees of statehood. Instead of counting the deficits an empire, a âfailedâ state, Continue reading
Tag Archives: Political Philosophy
Böckenförde on the Constituent Power of the People
The recent translation and edition of Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde’s work into English by Mirjam KĂŒnkler and Tine Stein represents an important impulse for the reception of a still marginal author in Anglo-Saxon constitutional theory. Böckenförde’s notable absence in the Anglo-Saxon debate so far has produced an artificial division between Anglo-Saxon and German constitutional theory. That division has weakened the understanding of important developments in Germany and obscured its connections with Anglo-American theory. The broad and competent translation of Böckenförde by Oxford University Press could now help to link German constitutional theory under the Grundgesetz to Anglo-Saxon constitutional theory, from which other legal traditions can draw important lessons. Continue reading
Krise, Kritik und Globaler Konstitutionalismus: Ein Workshop-Bericht
Globaler Konstitutionalismus ist etwas fĂŒr Optimisten. Dass politische Macht in der globalisierten Welt sich der Herrschaft des Rechts, der Demokratie und den Menschenrechten unterwirft, ist nichts, was sich rein faktenorientiert an irgendwelchen Messinstrumenten ablesen lieĂe â noch viel weniger, dass sie sich diesen konstitutionellen Grundprinzipien auch auf globaler Ebene unterwerfen sollte. Das muss man schon auch glauben wollen, zumal in Zeiten wie diesen, wo sich die Zweifel hĂ€ufen: Sind diese im Westen entwickelten Verfassungsprinzipien wirklich so universalisierbar, dass sie sich Chinesen, Saudis, TĂŒrken und Russen auch dann anempfehlen, wenn diese zunehmend â und zunehmend selbstbewusst â ohne sie zurechtzukommen scheinen? Continue reading
“It Is True That Some Divisions Are Harmful to Republics and Some Are Helpful”: On Factions, Parties, and the History of a Controversial Distinction
Partisanship, it is often said, involves efforts to harness political power not for the benefit of one social group among several but for that of the polity as a whole, as this benefit is identified through a particular (but not partial) interpretation of the public good. In this sense partisan practices differ from the activity of factions, although for a very long time the two were assimilated to each other. Continue reading
Progressing towards a Cosmopolitan Condition – Kantâs Ideal for the Formal Unity of International Law
There is a way in which great thinkers remain contemporary. This, I believe, is in virtue of the possibility of a continuous re-actualization of their thought in view of contemporary challenges. It is in this sense that I consider Kantâs cosmopolitan theory as guiding our understanding of the standards of the legitimacy of international law. Continue reading