THE STATE AND CONSTITUTIONALISM: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF CARL SCHMITT’S CONCEPT OF THE STATE’S UNITY AND ITS POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS TO CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS OF SOCIETY BUILDING.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71105/Keywords:
State, political unity, constitutionalism, state form, legal ordering.Abstract
Carl Schmitt conceptualizes the State as a political unity of the people. This conceptual interpretation of the state is fundamental in his legal theory, particularly his ideas on constitutionalism. This paper provides a critical analysis of Schmitt’s conceptual understanding and interpretation of the state as political unity of people, and discusses potential implications Schmitt’s notion of the State as political unity would have to contemporary legal and political theorizing. In my analysis, I contextualize Schmitt’s conceptualization of the state and his proposed foundational state value of political unity and argue that Schmitt’s conceptualization and interpretation of the state as political unity involves some internal weaknesses and tensions to constitute a relevant normative guide for conceptualizing political strategies which would solve some among contemporary political issues related to society building and legal ordering.
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