Carl Schmitt

Carl Schmitt (1888–1985) was a German jurist and political theorist whose work shaped twentieth-century debates on sovereignty, constitutional law, and political authority. He is known for defining sovereignty through the power to decide on the “state of exception” and for arguing that the political is grounded in the friend–enemy distinction. Schmitt criticized liberal parliamentary democracy and defended strong executive decision-making, positions often grouped under “decisionism.” He taught at several German universities and became a prominent public intellectual during the Weimar Republic. In 1933 he joined the Nazi Party and held influential legal posts, a lasting source of controversy.