Carl Schmitt — Legality and Legitimacy

Carl Schmitt — Legality and Legitimacy

Legality and Legitimacy is one of Carl Schmitt’s major works in the fields of constitutional and political theory. Originally published in 1932, the book examines the relationship between legality and legitimacy in the modern state, particularly against the background of the crisis of the parliamentary and constitutional system of the Weimar Republic.

Schmitt analyzes the functioning of the legislative system, the Constitution, and the principle of legality, addressing questions concerning sovereignty, political representation, democracy, and the organization of the state. The work offers a central reflection on the foundations of the legal and political order and on the tensions between formal legality and political legitimacy.

An important reference for the study of constitutional law, state theory, legal philosophy, political theory, and public law.