Constitutional and Political Theory

Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde was a Professor emeritus of Public Law at the University of Freiburg. He is one of the best-known and most influential German legal scholars in the post-war period. From 1983-1996 he served as Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. In the 1960s, Böckenförde was one of the founders of the journal Der Staat - Zeitschrift für Staatslehre, Öffentliches Recht und Verfassungsgeschichte. He was a member of the Social Democratic Party and served as a long-time legal advisor to it.Mirjam Künkler is Senior Research Fellow at the Swedish Collegium of Advanced Study.Tine Stein is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Kiel.

• Mirjam Künkler and Tine Stein: Introduction1. Political Theory of the StateI: Security and Self-Preservation before Justice: The Paradigm Shift and Transition from a Natural-Law to a Positive-Law Basis in Thomas Hobbes' System of Law (2004)II: The Concept of the Political: A Key to Understanding Carl Schmitt's Constitutional TheoryIII: The State as an Ethical State - Der Staat als Sittlicher Staat (1978).IV: The Repressed State Of Emergency. The Exercise of State Authority in Extraordinary Circumstances (1978)Part 2. Constitutional TheoryMirjam Künkler and Tine Stein: Introduction to Part 2V: The Concept and Problems of the Constitutional State (1997)VI: The Historical Evolution and Changes in the Meaning of the Constitution - Geschichtliche Entwicklung und Bedeutungswandel der Verfassung (1984)VII: The Constituent Power of the People: A Liminal Concept of Constitutional Law (1986)VIII: Constitutional Jurisdiction: Structure, Organization, and Legitimation (1999)Part 3. Fundamental Rights and Constitutional PrinciplesMirjam Künkler and Tine Stein: Introduction to Part 3IX: Critique of the Value-Based Grounding of Law (1990)X: Fundamental Rights as Constitutional Principles: On the Current State of Interpreting Fundamental Rights (1990)XI: The Fundamental Rights: Theory and Interpretation (1974)XII: Protection of Liberty against Societal Power: Outline of a Problem (1975)Part 4. On the Relationship between State, Citizenship and Political AutonomyMirjam Künkler and Tine Stein: Introduction to Part 4XIII: The Persecution of the Jews as a Civic Betrayal (1997)XIV: State Citizenship and the Concept of Nationality (1995)XV: The Future of Political Autonomy: Democracy and Statehood in a time of Globalization, Europeanization, and Individualization (1998)XVI: Which Path is Europe Taking? (1997)Part 5. Böckenförde in ContextXVII: Biographical Interview with Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde (2011)

Both as a justice and thinker, Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde is a towering figure in German law and philosophy. It is past time for the English-speaking world to fully confront his remarkable contributions to modern constitutionalism.