Substantive Equality, Popular Sovereignty, and Antagonistic Politics: An Introduction to Carl Schmitt's Democratic Theory
Substantive Equality, Popular Sovereignty, and Antagonistic Politics: An Introduction to Carl Schmitt's Democratic Theory

Summary/Abstract: This paper critically explores Carl Schmitt's theory of democracy. I present the emergence of the democratic principle of legitimacy as described by Schmitt, then elaborate on the people as sovereign qua constituent power and present its threefold relationship with the constitution. Later I formulate three lessons to be taken from Schmitt's theory and discuss its importance and implications for democratic theory in terms of the normative and formative principle of democracy, core subject and core mode of democratic politics, and conditions of possibility of constituent democratic politics. In concluding part I discuss the differences between liberal, republican and deliberative model of democracy and Schmitt-inspired theory.

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