Schmitt on Sovereignty and the State of Exception

This Palgrave Pivot offers a balanced and impartial commentary on one of the most important of the early writings by the German legal scholar Carl Schmitt. The book is known mostly by its title Politische Theologie but Schmitt’s subtitle indicated that his book was on more than political theology, but was focused on conceptions of sovereignty, authority, and the ‘state of exception’.

The author shows how the Politische Theologie published in 1922 clearly formulated Schmitt’s thinking regarding decisionism, dictatorship, and sovereignty, and how these notions intertwined to propose a governmental model opposed to parliamentary democracy. The book illuminates Carl Schmitt’s role in theorising the ‘state of exception’ as he engaged in debates with those who contended that democratic principles were crucial. Schmitt insisted there needs to be a sovereign individual whose authority provides an immediate decision to the ‘state of exception.’ This book will be of interest to scholars of legal and political philosophy, as well as those interested broadly in ideas of classical liberalism, wartime political economy, authoritarianism and socio-economic influences on legal thinking.

Christopher Adair-Toteff is a philosopher and social theorist who has concentrated on social-political and social-economic issues in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Germany. His recent books include Carl Schmitt on Law and Liberalism (Palgrave 2020) and Werner Sombart and the 'Spirit' of Modern Capitalism: Rediscovering a Classic (Palgrave 2024), both published as part of the series Palgrave Studies in Classical Liberalism.