Pojam politike

by Carl Schmitt

Carl Schmitt, njemački pravnik i politički teoretičar (Plettenberg, 11. VII. 1888 – Plettenberg, 7. IV. 1985). Predavao je pravo na sveučilištima u Bonnu, Berlinu i Kölnu, a 1933–45. bio je na Sveučilištu u Berlinu. Zauzimao se za diktaturu te se protivio parlamentarizmu, demokraciji i liberalizmu. Podupirao je režim A. Hitlera.
U djelu Pojam političkoga (Der Begriff des Politischen, 1927) razlikuje politiku (die Politik) i političko (das Politische). Politika je nastankom države i njezinih institucija postala isključivo tehnika moći u posjedu vlasti. Naprotiv, političko je transepohalno i nije vezano isključivo za državu, već postoji prije, izvan i mimo nje u svakom obliku političkog jedinstva i političke organizacije, od grčkog polisa, srednjovjekovnih feudalnih poredaka do države i nakon nje. Epoha države ide prema svojemu kraju, pa je zato potrebno identificirati nova polja političkoga koja se ne mogu više odrediti supstancijalno nego samo formalno.

267 pages

Published January 1, 1943

About the author

Carl Schmitt's early career as an academic lawyer falls into the last years of the Wilhelmine Empire. (See for Schmitt's life and career: Bendersky 1983; Balakrishnan 2000; Mehring 2009.) But Schmitt wrote his most influential works, as a young professor of constitutional law in Bonn and later in Berlin, during the Weimar-period: Political Theology, presenting Schmitt's theory of sovereignty, appeared in 1922, to be followed in 1923 by The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy, which attacked the legitimacy of parliamentary government. In 1927, Schmitt published the first version of his most famous work, The Concept of the Political, defending the view that all true politics is based on the distinction between friend and enemy. The culmination of Schmitt's work in the Weimar period, and arguably his greatest achievement, is the 1928 Constitutional Theory which systematically applied Schmitt's political theory to the interpretation of the Weimar constitution. During the political and constitutional crisis of the later Weimar Republic Schmitt published Legality and Legitimacy, a clear-sighted analysis of the breakdown of parliamentary government Germany, as well as The Guardian of the Constitution, which argued that the president as the head of the executive, and not a constitutional court, ought to be recognized as the guardian of the constitution. In these works from the later Weimar period, Schmitt's declared aim to defend the Weimar constitution is at times barely distinguishable from a call for constitutional revision towards a more authoritarian political framework (Dyzenhaus 1997, 70–85; Kennedy 2004, 154–78).

Though Schmitt had not been a supporter of National Socialism before Hitler came to power, he sided with the Nazis after 1933. Schmitt quickly obtained an influential position in the legal profession and came to be perceived as the ‘Crown Jurist’ of National Socialism. (Rüthers 1990; Mehring 2009, 304–436) He devoted himself, with undue enthusiasm, to such tasks as the defence of Hitler's extra-judicial killings of political opponents (PB 227–32) and the purging of German jurisprudence of Jewish influence (Gross 2007; Mehring 2009, 358–80). But Schmitt was ousted from his position of power within legal academia in 1936, after infighting with academic competitors who viewed Schmitt as a turncoat who had converted to Nazism only to advance his career. There is considerable debate about the causes of Schmitt's willingness to associate himself with the Nazis. Some authors point to Schmitt's strong ambition and his opportunistic character but deny ideological affinity (Bendersky 1983, 195–242; Schwab 1989). But a strong case has been made that Schmitt's anti-liberal jurisprudence, as well as his fervent anti-semitism, disposed him to support the Nazi regime (Dyzenhaus 1997, 85–101; Scheuerman 1999). Throughout the later Nazi period, Schmitt's work focused on questions of international law. The immediate motivation for this turn seems to have been the aim to justify Nazi-expansionism. But Schmitt was interested in the wider question of the foundations of international law, and he was convinced that the turn towards liberal cosmopolitanism in 20th century international law would undermine the conditions of stable and legitimate international legal order. Schmitt's theoretical work on the foundations of international law culminated in The Nomos of the Earth, written in the early 1940's, but not published before 1950. Due to his support for and involvement with the Nazi dictatorship, the obstinately unrepentant Schmitt was not allowed to return to an academic job after 1945 (Mehring 2009, 438–63). But he nevertheless remained an important figure in West Germany's conservative intellectual scene to his death in 1985 (van Laak 2002) and enjoyed a considerable degree of clandestine influence elsewhere (Scheuerman 1999, 183–251; Müller 2003).

Unsurprisingly, the significance and value of Schmitt's works

Reviews

[Public_enemy · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. The Concept of the Political (Der Begriff des Politischen)

This is Schmitt’s foundational work. In it, he argues that politics is not defined by the state, law, or morality, but by its own autonomous criterion: the distinction between friend and enemy. The enemy here is not a personal rival, but a public, existential adversary with whom physical conflict is a real possibility. Schmitt locates the political in the constant risk of war, claiming that political unity is only forged when a group faces this external or internal "Other."

2. The Age of Neutralizations and Depoliticizations (Das Zeitalter der Neutralisierungen und Entpolitisierungen)

A historical-philosophical essay tracking the movement of the European spirit from the 16th century to modernity. Schmitt explains how Europe, fleeing theological wars, constantly shifted to new "neutral" domains (first metaphysics, then humanism, followed by economics, and finally technology). His core point is that technology is the final, yet false phase of neutralization: it does not resolve conflicts; it merely hands more powerful weapons to those fighting them.

3. Neutrality and Neutralization in International Law (Völkerrechtliche Neutralität und Neutralisierung)

In this text, Schmitt problematizes the status of neutral states within classical international law. He demonstrates how the advent of modern total war and universalist alliances (such as the League of Nations) dissolves the traditional concept of neutrality. Neutrality ceases to be a legal sanctuary and becomes a politically unsustainable position in a world that demands taking sides.

4. Vae neutris! (Woe to the Neutral!)
A brief but sharp polemical continuation of the previous theme. Operating from a standpoint of pure political realism, Schmitt warns that during times of global geopolitical realignment, those who attempt to remain on the sidelines (the neutrals) are inevitably overrun or exploited by dominant hegemonic powers. The right to neutrality is only as valid as a state’s military capacity to defend it.

5. The Seventh Amendment of the Geneva League of Nations

Schmitt’s critical review of the evolution of the League of Nations in Geneva. He viewed this institution as an instrument of the victors of World War I (specifically British and French imperialism). He argued that under the guise of "universal peace" and abstract legal procedures, the League merely maintained an unjust status quo and served to morally demonize anyone who opposed that order.

6. Total Enemy, Total War, Total State (Totaler Feind, totaler Krieg, totale Staat)

This essay maps the transition from classical, limited warfare (where the adversary was a legitimate opponent, justus hostis) to modern total war. When war becomes ideologized and fought in the name of humanity, the adversary turns into a "total enemy" who must not just be defeated, but morally annihilated. This, in turn, requires a "total state"—an apparatus that mobilizes the entire society, economy, and psychology of the nation for combat.

7. The Contradiction Between Parliamentarism and Modern Mass Democracy

A theoretical essay from 1923 in which Schmitt asserts that parliamentarism and democracy are historically incompatible. Parliamentarism is a liberal construct resting on public debate among an intellectual elite. Modern mass democracy, by contrast, demands homogeneity, acclamation, and decisive action. Mass democracy can function through a dictatorship or a strong leader, whereas a parliament in such conditions degenerates into a slow, dysfunctional debating club.

8. The Political Theory of Myth (Die politische Theorie des Mythus)

Inspired by Georges Sorel, Schmitt analyzes the power of political myth as the ultimate fuel for mass mobilization. He contrasts cold liberal rationalism (which relies on contracts and discussions) with the vital energy of irrational, spiritual myths (such as the myth of the nation or the class), which alone possess the power to compel individuals to sacrifice themselves for a collective.

9. The Turn to the Total State (Der Umschwung zur totalen Staat)

This text analyzes the constitutional crisis of the Weimar Republic in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Schmitt describes how the liberal state, under the pressure of severe economic crises and domestic enemies (such as the communists), can no longer afford to remain neutral. It is forced to intervene in all spheres of society and the economy, inevitably transforming into a "total state" to prevent its own collapse.

10. The Development of the Total State in Germany

A concrete historical-legal case study where Schmitt analyzes the specific German context of transitioning from Weimar constitutional disarray into the Nazi dictatorship. He attempts to theoretically legitimize this process as a necessary step to salvage German political unity against disintegrating centrifugal forces.

11. The Concept of Empire in International Law (Der Reichsbegriff im Völkerrecht)

Here, Schmitt develops his theory of the Greater Space (Großraum). An Empire (Reich) is not a crude imperialist conqueror, but a leading power that establishes law and order within a large geopolitical region, while explicitly banning interventions by outside powers (modeled on the American Monroe Doctrine). It represents a legal attempt to move past the old system of fragmented, small nation-states.

12. Three Types of Juristic Thought (Über die drei Arten des rechtswissenschaftlichen Denkens)

The methodological text from 1934 regarding his shift in legal philosophy. Schmitt rejects normativism (the rule of abstract rules) and redefines his earlier decisionism (the authority of pure decision) to introduce concrete order thought. Law does not reside in statutory paragraphs, but in the living, historically built institutions of society (the army, the family, the state apparatus) which the leader must protect and shape.

13. The Triad of Political Unity (Staat, Bewegung, Volk)

A programmatic text from 1933 providing the legal framework for the National Socialist state structure. He argues that political unity now consists of three distinct elements: the state (the static, bureaucratic apparatus), the movement (the dynamic, political element/party that leads the state), and the people (the unpolitical base living within concrete social orders).