The Publicness of Public International Law Seen Through Schmitt’s Concept of the Political - A Contribution to Building Public Law Theory
Published as: Das Öffentliche im Völkerrecht im Lichte von Schmitts „Begriff des Politischen“. Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Theoriebildung im Öffentlichen Recht. In: Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (ZaöRV), 77 (2017) 4, S. 877-906
31 Pages Posted: 4 Nov 2016 Last revised: 4 Jun 2020
Date Written: November 4, 2016
Abstract
This contribution analyses Carl Schmitt’s Concept of the Political, one of the most influential pieces ever penned by a legal scholar. It engages with it to advance a contemporary theory of public law. Although Schmitt’s text has, as will be demonstrated, many fallacies, it also holds seminal innovations that are useful to contemporary thought. One such innovation is Schmitt’s way to reconceive the conceptual web that hitherto has been anchored in the state. However, this text will replace his concept of the political by the concept of public authority, advancing an idea of public law that enables, guides and frames the exercise of public authority, whether domestic, international, or supranational. Moreover, on the touchstone of Schmitt’s text, standards for assessing theories of public law are developed.
Keywords: Carl Schmitt, concept of the political, International Public Authority, methods of public law theory, standards for public law theory, Jus Publicum Europaeum
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