The Challenge of the Exception: An Introduction to the Political Ideas of Carl Schmitt Between 1921 and 1936

(Hardback, 2nd edition)

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This book discusses the ideas of Carl Schmitt, a leading political theorist and jurist who influenced the thoughts of, among others, Hannah Arendt, Carl Joachim Friedrich, Otto Kirchheimer, Hans Morgenthau, Franz Neumann and Leo Strauss. Professor Schwab aims to articulate Schmitt's key concepts and relate their centrality to politics and the state, to the political theory of liberalism, democracy and authoritarianism, and to international relations. When Schwab treats Schmitt's interpretations of constitutional questions, for example, he intends to show how political theory in Germany is inextricably linked with constitutional law, legal theory and the country's history. The book deals with Schmitt's contributions to 20th century thought and Schwab considers the unconscionable compromises that he made with the 3rd Reich. This, however, failed to help him become the political and legal theorist of Hitler's Germany. Schwab shows how the new Schmitt was suspect from the beginning and, by 1936, Schmitt the hunter has become Schmitt the hunted.

Reviews

"The burgeoning of Schmitt studies in the United States today is no doubt due primarily to Schwab, who virtually alone has pioneered that effort."-G. L. Ulmen, New York
"The work of Professor George Schwab, which, while once highly controversial, is now largely accepted by Schmitt specialists."-John Stroup, Rice University
"The Challenge of the Exception is a truly 'pioneering' work by a student who dared to take a detached scholarly approach to Schmitt."-Joseph W. Bendersky, Virginia Commonwealth University
"The Challenge of the Exception was the first book on Carl Schmitt's thought to appear in English. It is not likely to lose its place as the first source for work on this important thinker."-Ellen Kennedy, University of Pennsylvania

Author Bio

GEORGE SCHWAB is Professor of History at the City University of New York (Graduate Center and City College) and Senior Vice President of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, of which he was a co-founder with the late Hans J. Morgenthau. Mr. Schwab is a recipient of a number of grants and the author, editor, and translator of numerous works on great power rivalry, legal and political theory, and German history. His publications include Eurocommunism (Greenwood Press, 1981) and United States Foreign Policy at the Crossroads (Greenwood Press, 1982).