The Rule of Law Under Siege: Selected Essays of Franz L. Neumann and Otto Kirchheimer (Weimar and Now - German Cultural Criticism, 9)

In the pathbreaking essays collected here, Neumann and Kirchheimer demonstrate that the death of democracy and the rise of fascism during the first half of the twentieth century suggest crucial lessons for contemporary political and legal scholars. The volume includes writings on constitutionalism, political freedom, Nazism, sovereignty, and both Nazi and liberal law. Most important, the Frankfurt authors point to the continuing efficacy of the rule of law as an instrument for regulating and restraining state authority, as well as ominous evidence of the rule of law's fragility in modern liberal democracy. The Decay Of German Democracy / Franz L. Neumann -- Legality And Legitimacy / Otto Kirchheimer -- Remarks On Carl Schmidt's Legality And Legitimacy / Otto Kirchheimer -- The Change In The Function Of Law In Modern Society / Franz L. Neumann -- State Structure And Law In The Third Reich / Otto Kirchheimer -- Criminal Law In National Socialist Germany / Otto Kirchheimer -- The Concept Of Political Freedom / Franz L. Neumann -- Labor Law In Modern Society / Franz L. Neumann -- The Rechtsstaat As Magic Wall / Otto Kirchheimer. Edited By William E. Scheuerman. Essays Translated From The German. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This collection of essays demonstrates that the death of democracy and the rise of fascism during the first half of the 20th century suggest crucial lessons for contemporary political and legal scholars. It includes writings on constitutionalism, political freedom, and both Nazi and liberal law. Germany was never a united nation-and never a democracy.