The Rule of Law Under Siege
Selected Essays of Franz L. Neumann and Otto Kirchheimer
$60.00, £35.00 hardcover
978-0-520-20379-2
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"These two constitutional theorists and labor and economic analysts . . . represented and documented the farthest reaches and bitterest disappointments of European, and, especially, German Marxist, social democracy. . . . This ably edited volume brings together nine of the lesser- and better-known essays of these wide-ranging activist scholars."—Contemporary Sociology
"This welcome volume gathers together nine essays, four in original translation, by a pair of highly respected refugee scholars from Nazi Germany . . . a worthwhile tribute to two ornaments of German democratic scholarship."—American Journal of Legal History
"This welcome volume gathers together nine essays, four in original translation, by a pair of highly respected refugee scholars from Nazi Germany . . . a worthwhile tribute to two ornaments of German democratic scholarship."—American Journal of Legal History
"[Neumann's and Kirchheimer's] writings on the interface between law and politics were at the cutting edge during their day and retain much of their freshness in our own. . . . The collection will be a much appreciated contribution to current debates."—Martin Jay, author of Downcast Eyes
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.