Hans Kelsen on Constitutional Democracy

Sandrine Baume is a full professor at the University of Lausanne. Her research lies at the crossroads of democratic theory and the history of political thought. She has particularly concentrated on institutions (such as constitutional courts), key actors (like political parties), principles (including transparency and democratic self-defence), and practices (such as compromise). Her deep knowledge of legal scholars from the Weimar Republic has played a pivotal role in shaping her reflections and publications. David Ragazzoni is a tenure-track assistant professor in Liberal Democratic Theory at the Political Science Department of the University of Toronto. Previously, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at New York University School of Law and a lecturer at Columbia University, where he completed his PhD. His work sits at the intersection of democratic theory and the history of political and legal ideas, with a focus on historical and contemporary debates on political parties, leaders, and representative institutions.

• Introduction Sandrine Baume and David Ragazzoni; Part I. Genesis: 1. The forgotten beginnings of Kelsen as a political and legal theorist: 'Dante Alighieri's philosophy of the state' (1905) David Ragazzoni; 2. The making of Kelsen's concept of democracy Matthias Jestaedt; 3. The origins of the fragility of interwar democracies: Kelsen and Neumann Peter Langford; 4. Ideal and real democracy in Hans Kelsen's political work (1918–1955) Sara Lagi; Part II. Theory: 5. The essence and value of political parties Nadia Urbinati; 6. Relativism and leadership in Kelsen's theory of democracy Carlo Invernizzi Accetti and Nicole Peisajovich; 7. Revisiting Kelsen's party constitutionalism Fabio Wolkenstein; 8. Kelsen's argument for constitutional review: a reappraisal Lars Vinx; 9. Constitutionalism, democracy, and international law in Kelsen's pure theory of law David Dyzenhaus; Part III. Legacies: 10. The genius of democracy: Kelsen and Schumpeter Adam Przeworski; 11. Hans Kelsen, Leo Strauss, and the crisis of American democracy William Scheuerman; 12. Can't we all just get along? Revisiting Kelsen's account of parliamentarism, parties, and compromise Jan-Werner Müller; 13. The Kelsenian critique of militant democracy: its contemporary echoes Sandrine Baume; Afterword Duncan Kelly.