Popular Manifestation

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-40
Author(s):  
Jason Frank

While contemporary democratic theory has explored the paradoxes of peoplehood and the dilemmas of authorization and legality that follow from them, this chapter focuses on a related but conceptually distinct problem: the question of how popular sovereignty’s authorizing entity, the people, publicly appears, how it makes itself tangible to the senses, how the people takes shape as a collective actor when no formal rules and procedures for identifying popular will exist, or when these rules and procedures are so deeply contested as to be effectively deauthorized. This chapter examines how this issue emerges in the work of two seminal theorists of modern democracy who have written extensively on the French Revolution—Carl Schmitt and Claude Lefort—only to be redirected from the aesthetic-political problem of manifestation to the political theological problem of incarnation.

Author(s):  
Kevin Duong

This book uncovers an unfamiliar vision of political violence that nonetheless prevailed in modern French thought: that through “redemptive violence” the people would not rend but regenerate society. It homes in on invocations of popular redemptive violence across four historical moments in France specifically: the French Revolution, Algeria’s colonization, the Paris Commune, and the eve of the first World War. In each of these cases, the book reveals how French thinkers experienced democratization as social disintegration. Yet, before such danger, they also proclaimed that virtuous violence by the people could repair the social fabric. The path leading from an anarchic multitude to an organized democratic society required, not violence’s prohibition, but its virtuous expression by the people. Understanding this counterintuitive vision of violence in French thought offers a new vantage point on the meaning of modern democracy. It alerts readers to how struggles for democracy do not merely seek justice or a new legal regime but also liberating visions of the social bond.


Il Politico ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-116
Author(s):  
Marco Menon

This paper offers a short overview of Heinrich Meier’s books on Carl Schmitt’s political theology, namely Carl Schmitt und Leo Strauss, and Die Lehre Carl Schmitts. These writings, published respectively in 1988 and 1994, and recently translated into Italian by Cantagalli (Siena), have raised both enthusiastical appraisal and fierce criticism. The gist of Meier’s interpretation is the following: the core of Schmitt’s thought is his Christian faith. Schmitt’s political doctrine must be unterstood as political theology, that is, as a political doctrine which claims to be grounded on divine revelation. The fundamental attitude of the political theologian, therefore, is pious obedience to God’s unfathomable will. The hypothesis of the paper is that Meier’s reading, which from a historical point of view might appear as highly controversial, is essentially the attempt to articulate the fundamental alternative between political theology and political philosophy. Meier’s alleged stylization of Carl Schmitt and Leo Strauss is a form of “platonism”, i.e., a theoretical purification aimed at a clear formulation of what he means by “the theologico-political problem”.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Jorge Luís dos Santos LOURENÇON ◽  
Ana Maria Ortega ALONSO

No século XX, os pensadores Hans Kelsen e Carl Schmitt travaram um embate sobre a quem incumbiria a guarda da Constituição. Para aquele, a tarefa seria de um órgão técnico, qual seja, uma corte constitucional, capaz de uma análise de compatibilidade entre normas de hierarquia superior com as de hierarquia inferior. Para Schmitt, por outro lado, ao chefe de Estado caberia tal responsabilidade, por ser detentor da vontade política e, assim, mostrar-se afim aos anseios populares; sendo a Constituição uma decisão política, o representante do povo teria legitimidade para protegê-la, de acordo com a vontade pública. Discute-se, neste estudo, a qual teoria o Supremo Tribunal Federal se aproximou, quando do julgamento da Ação Direta de Inconstitucionalidade nº 4.439, em que se decidiu pela compatibilidade do ensino religioso de natureza confessional e matrícula facultativa, na rede pública de ensino, com a Constituição Federal de 1988, isto é, se a argumentação desenvolvida pela Corte Maior se reveste de caráter técnico, como pretendia Kelsen, ou se consideram os pensamentos do povo brasileiro, como defendido por Schmitt. Conclui-se que, pela análise de votos dos Ministros do Pretório Excelso, a argumentação técnica restou vencida por uma argumentação jurídica e de ordem política, em consonância com a vontade popular, distanciando a atuação do STF da guarda da Carta Política tal como pretendida por Hans Kelsen. A metodologia empregada é a revisão bibliográfica, sob o método dedutivo.   THE DIRECT UNCONSTITUTIONALITY ACTION 4.439 UNDER HANS KELSEN’S AND CARL SCHMITT’S CONSTITUTIONAL THEORIES PERSPECTIVE   ABSTRACT In the 20th century, Hans Kelsen and Carl Schmitt raised an issue about who was responsible for The Guardian of the Constitution.  For Kelsen, a technical body would be held responsible, wherever, a constitutional court, qualified to a compatibility analysis between superior hierarchy and inferior hierarchy. For Schmitt, on the other hand, the Head of State would bear such responsibility, for being the holder of the political will, and thus depicting popular aspirations; being the Constitution a political decision, the representative of the people would have the legitimacy to protect it, in accordance with the will of the people. In this study, it is discussed which theory the Supreme Court approached, in the judgment of Direct Unconstitutionality Action 4.439, in which, it was decided in favor of the compatibility of  the confessional natural theology nature and the elective enrollment in public school systems, with the Federal Constitution of 1988, that is, if the arguments developed by the Major Court holds a technical character, as Kelsen intended, or if they consider the thoughts of  Brazilian people, as defended by Schmitt. It is concluded that, by the analysis of the votes of the Ministers of Praetorium Excelso, the technical argument was defeated by a legal and political argument, in agreement with the popular will, intervening the performance of the STF from the custody of the Political Charter as intended by Hans Kelsen. The methodology used was the literature review, under the deductive method.   Keywords: Direct Unconstitutionality Action. Hans Kelsen. Carl Schmitt. Theory of Constitution. Secularism.


Pravovedenie ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-517
Author(s):  
Viktor P. Kirilenko ◽  
◽  
Georgij V. Alekseev ◽  

Identification of political regime’s legality and legitimacy by the German lawyer Carl Schmitt seems to be an attempt to solve the problem of unjust laws which is close to the idea of legitimate domination stated by Max Weber. Popularity of the legitimacy paradigm within the framework of political and legal discourse on its way towards the provision of rational government is often associated with an underestimation of democratic charisma’s role in legitimation when it is compared to the legal bureaucratic justification of government. Noting the fact that rationality is the most important and at the same time the least reasoned part of Max Weber’s social theory, we need to assess the potential of the bureaucracy in securing the ideals of the rule of law with an extreme caution. If Carl Schmitt’s position on the relationship between legality and legitimacy changed along with the development of political events of the 20th century, the ideas of Max Weber were modified during the translations of his works from German and gave to legitimacy deep textbook value. Decrease in chances of unjust law’s application requires certain legal culture that allows not only to question any formal prescription of the law and to test it for legitimacy, but also gives an opportunity to assess the legality of any democratic decision before it is implemented. Understanding the legitimacy of democracy depends largely on the ideology that dominates society, and the legal culture of the person that assesses the political regime. It is obvious in the context of political mistakes made during the first half of the twentieth century that the danger of underestimating the threats to the rule of law, originating both from illegitimate authorities and from unlawful political decisions. Historical experience underscores the need for a broad understanding of the rule of law state (Rechtsstaat) in a modern democracy, which simultaneously protects the formal legality and legitimacy of the political regime.


2021 ◽  
pp. 33-57
Author(s):  
Sofia Näsström

The chapter critically examines the sovereign people as the foundation of modern democracy. More specifically, it asks what allegiance to the sovereign people entails for how one addresses conflicts on the nature of modern democracy: who should govern. The central argument made in the chapter is that commitment to the sovereign people leads to a trap. It spurs disillusionment with democracy’s capacity to adjudicate conflicting claims on who “we, the people” are under conditions of globalization, migration, and secession. By letting go of Rousseau’s legacy and introducing the work of Montesquieu, this chapter initiates the reorientation of democratic theory from sovereignty to spirit.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-106
Author(s):  
Olivier Jouanjan

In Europe, democracy has a bright future. Not one democratic mechanism, however direct, cannot guarantee direct democracy. Therefore, the theory of populism by theoretician Carl Schmitt is analyzed « thoughts on Schmitt against Schmitt : Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde“. Furthermore, the democratic myth is discussed and its ideology. The state of rule of law of modern democracy and the two faces of modern democracy are analyzed. The need to participate in civil society in administrative control is stressed. The relation of the tension between democracy and rule of law is observed. The need to consider the concept of considering modern democracy in relation to the idea of rule of law, democracies under conditions of modern politics on the basis of which Böckenförde, referring to Hegel, calls the problem „division “are emphasized. It is precisely from this problem that Böckenförde shows that modern democracy can only be representative. Representation is a fundamental principle of the rule of law while representation means a system of formation necessary for expressing the political will of the people. Every formation of the collective process means the introduction of standards of procedure, significant guarantees and formal conditions of this process.


1996 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon M. Setzer

First published in 1840, at the height of the controversy over capital punishment in England, Wordsworth's Sonnets Upon the Punishment of Death counter the movement toward political reform through their massive appeal to ancient history, poetical history, and the history of poetic form. While Wordsworth attempts to ground his authority in the biblical history reconstituted in Milton's Paradise Lost and the classical history of Lucius Junius Brutus recuperated during the French Revolution, his argument for the political imperative of the death penalty is inextricably bound up with the aesthetic imperatives of the sonnet form. The sonnet series as a whole thus betrays a perverse appropiation of literary and historical precedent as well as an uncritical acceptance of Petrarchan conventions.


Author(s):  
Avitus A Agbor ◽  
Esther E Njieassam

Legal scholars and other social scientists agree that political violence comprising assaults on civil and political liberties may occur in the context of contentious politics. Unfortunately, there have been instances in history where such politics is marked by intermittent attacks against people's rights and freedoms. Such attacks occur when politics has gone sour, and there are times when the violence exceeds the bounds of what is acceptable. From the documented atrocities of Nazi Germany, the horrendous crimes of the regime of Slobodan Milosevic in the former Yugoslavia, the outrageous crimes perpetrated during the genocide in Rwanda, the shameful and despicable inhumanities inflicted on the people of Darfur in the Sudan, and the violence in post-electoral Kenya, to the bloodshed in areas like Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, etc, violent conflict has punctuated world history. Added to this list of countries is Cameroon, which in the last quarter of 2016 degenerated into a hotspot of political violence in the English-speaking regions. The perpetration of political violence in Cameroon has raised serious questions that may be relevant not only to the resolution of the political problem that gave rise to the violence but also to laying the foundations of a post-conflict Cameroon that is united and honours the principles of truth, justice and reconciliation. This paper describes some of the salient occurrences of political violence in Cameroon and argues that the presence of specific elements elevates this violence to the level of a serious crime in international law. It is argued herein that crimes against humanity may have been committed during the state action against the Anglophones in Cameroon. It is also argued that the political character of the violence, added to the scale of the victimisation and its systematic and protracted nature, qualify Cameroon as a transitional society engaged in conflict that is in need of transitional justice. Reflecting on the extent of the suffering of the victims of such political violence, this paper discusses the function of the justice system in establishing the truth and holding the perpetrators accountable. Past instances of political violence in Cameroon have been glossed over, but in our opinion, healing a fragmented and disunited Cameroon with its history of grave violations of human rights requires that the perpetrators be held accountable, and that truth and justice should prevail. Such considerations should be factored into the legal and political architecture of a post-conflict, transitional Cameroon.  


J. M. Synge ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 136-168
Author(s):  
Seán Hewitt

While travelling in the ‘Congested Districts’ of Mayo and Connemara with Jack Yeats in early summer 1905, on commission for The Manchester Guardian, Synge wrote a short vignette which he later added to the fourth part of his as-yet-unpublished prose narrative, The Aran Islands. The vignette in question takes the form of an inserted ‘set piece’ in which a crow is found trying to smash a golf ball. Here, the manuscript reveals the effects of the Guardian commission in confirming Synge’s oppositions to modernization in the west of Ireland and in prompting an increasing irony towards his earlier Romanticism. Taking this ‘set piece’ as its starting point, this chapter mobilizes Synge’s reading in socialism, and his correspondence and drafts for the Guardian commission, to demonstrate the writer’s socialist proclivities and to chart their nuances. Drawing on the earlier chapters of the book, this chapter shows that Synge’s socialism is rooted in nature and mystical experience, and in thought patterns borrowed from Spencerian evolutionism: he opposes modernization when it takes on a homogenizing form which he perceives as anti-nature. By showing that for Synge the aesthetic is politicized, and the political aestheticized, this chapter also registers a recalibrated Synge, evolving a more modernist response to his own notoriety. It concludes by positing the revision of his subsequent article, ‘The People of the Glens’, as a measure of an increasingly ironic sensibility, leading into the elaborate ironical, political structures of his final completed play, The Playboy of the Western World.


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