Souveran ist, wer uber den ausnahmezustand entscheidet

In: Der Staat: Zeitschrift für Staatslehre und Verfassungsgeschichte, deutsches und europäisches öffentliches Recht, Band 44, Heft 2, S. 171-186

Abstract

Carl Schmitt's provocative & ambiguous statement Souveran ist, wer uber den Ausnahmezustand entscheided (sovereign is he who makes the decision on the state of emergency), opening his book Vier Kapitel zur Lehre von der Souveranitat ([Four Chapters on the Theory of Sovereignty] Berlin, 1922), is examined, with special attention to its pertinence to the contemporary theory of constitutional law & the debate on the sovereignty of states which are members of the European Union (EU). After discussing the notion of sovereignty & surveying its conceptualizations in 19th & 20th-century political science & theory of constitutional & international law, the post-WWII history of Germany is examined as a special case illustrating the validity of Schmitt's maxim. The possible conflicts between the constitutions of EU member states & the recently drafted EU constitution are considered. Z. Dubiel