State Law and the Doctrine of State
This book is a translation of
Book IV of The Doctrine of Law and State, entitled "The Doctrine
of State and the Principles of State Law." It is is tour de force: a
gauntlet thrown down before the ignorant modernist who cannot conceive
of the state as anything other than the creature of the will of man, the
construct of autonomous citizens. The state for Stahl is above all a
God-given reality, something which precedes the will of man, whether
ruler or subject c.q. citizen, the existence of which is bound up with
the existence of peoples and nations, and which is the expression of
their essence. This is the true popular character of law and state (cf.
Principles of Law, §§. 2, 25) as opposed to what Stahl labels the
revolutionary character of popular sovereignty as the ephemeral will of
the people.
Stahl argues for the concept of the state as an ethical kingdom, a kingdom of personality in which ruler and subject are united in subjection to a transcendent standard of justice and a transcendent concept of authority. Participatory government grows out of a constitution in which authority and institutions are first firmly established. Liberty is then the result of the prior acceptance of authority, which in turn is exercised not as an end in itself but as an office for the common good. Ultimately, a settled constitutional order can only be achieved when this notion of authority as a species of "divine right" is reconciled with the idea of humanity, wherein the absolute value of each individual is recognized and wherein his participation is integrated.
Stahl's treatment of the historical growth of constitutionalism in the West, of the role of monarchy and the estates in the growth, is unparalleled. His insightful description and critique of constitutional theory and practice is of fundamental importance to understanding Western constitutionalism in its historic framework.
ISBN/SKU: 9076660093 hardback, 9076660107 paperback
ISBN Complete: 978-90-76660-09-7 hardback,
978-90-76660-10-3 paperback
Book Type: 6 x 9 in
Page Count: 506
includes bibliography and indices
$44.99 hardback, $27.99 paperback
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