Militant Democracy Project
My current book project builds on the conclusions of my last book. Setting aside Schmitt, I analyze the legitimacy and limits of “militant” democracy and other contemporary responses to the phenomena of populism, extremism, illiberal democracy, and legal revolution. I have organized a panel at APSA 2019 to discuss populism and militant democracy with some of the main thinkers currently working on this subject. My article “Containing Political Extremism and Legal Revolution” (forthcoming in Philosophy and Social Criticism) lays out the foundation and direction for developing this project. My goal is to develop a constitutional theory for what I call “constrained democracy,” the adoption of constitutional mechanisms that limit the legal ability of democratic parties to amend liberal constitutionalism out of the constitution. I believe that the internal threats – such as populism – that today face both new and established liberal democracies clearly demonstrate the existential importance of such mechanisms.
Longer Description of this project here. |
Carl Schmitt's State and Constitutional TheoryCarl Schmitt's State and Constitutional Theory: A Critical Analysis was published by Oxford University Press on its Oxford Constitutional Theory series (Oxford University Press, 2017). This book analyzes Carl Schmitt’s state and constitutional theory and looks at how it was conceived in response to the legitimation crisis facing the Weimar state. It shows how Schmitt’s state theory provides an original normative theory of “constrained” democracy, a type of liberal constitutionalism that guards against certain pathological forms of popular sovereignty and prevents constitutional suicide. It concludes Schmitt offers liberal democrats today a novel way to understand the legitimacy of liberal democracy and the limits of constitutional change. Schmitt offers us unique tools with which to conceive of and solve contemporary problems, such as illiberal and antidemocratic right wing populist movements.
Longer Description of Carl Schmitt's State and Constitutional Theory: A Critical Analysis here. |
Morgenthau mal comprisMorgenthau mal compris: Investigating the Philosophical Roots of Hans Morgenthau's Political Realism aims to investigate the philosophical foundations of Hans J. Morgenthau's project of Political Realism. It argues that a fundamental goal spanning Morgenthau's political realism is to critique scientism in politics and to present a viable "unscientific" alternative with which to properly understand and practice politics. Morgenthau rejects the possibility of modeling political science on the natural sciences, through modern scientific method. This rejection of scientific politics rests on a more basic critical analysis of the possibility of a scientific understanding of both human nature and ethics. Beyond this, Morgenthau's positive and rational, yet unscientific, contribution to politics is outlined in the hope both to provide both a better understanding of what is actually knowable and possible in politics as well as to provide a direction for future research.
Longer Description of Morgenthau mal compris here. |