This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to
the major political thinkers of modern Germany. It includes
chapters on the works of Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, Franz Neumann,
Otto Kirchheimer, Jurgen Habermas and Niklas Luhmann. These works
are examined in their social and historical contexts, ranging from
the period of Bismarck to the present day.
A clear picture is presented of the connections between individual
theoretical positions and the general political conditions of
modern Germany. Areas of political history covered in particular
depth include nineteenth-century legal and parliamentary history,
aspects of German liberalism, Weimar social democracy, political
Catholicism, Adenauer and Erhard, Brandt’s reforms and the
Tendenzwende of the late 1970s. By closely linking intellectual and
political history, this work examines how recent German political
theory has developed as a set of varying responses to recurring
aspects and problems of political life in modern Germany. At the
same time, it addresses the philosophical and political
implications of the works which it treats, and it critically
examines how modern German political theory has contributed to
broader attempts to theorize political legitimacy and politics
itself.
This book will be of interest to students of political theory,
German studies and European political history.
Table of Content
Abbreviations.
Introduction.
1. Max Weber.
2. Carl Schmitt.
3. Franz Neumann and Otto Kirchheimer.
4. Jurgen Habermas.
5. Niklas Luhmann.
Conclusion.
References.
Index.
About the author
Chris Thornhill lectures on German political theory and critical theory at King’s College, London.
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