Constitutional Law in the social Rechtsstaat

On a fundamental concept of Heller's state theory

Authors

  • Oliver W. Lembcke Universidad Ruhr de Bochum, Alemania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35305/prcs.v8i15.709

Keywords:

Social Rechtsstaat, Constitutional law, Hermann Heller, Democracy

Abstract

The article analyzes the notion of constitutional law in the social Rechtsstaat based on a conference by Hermann Heller titled “The Concept of Law in the Constitution of the Reich”, which was delivered in 1927 at the congress of the Association of German Professors of Legal State Theory. In that conference, Heller presents a sharp critique of the political implications of the doctrine that distinguishes a formal from a material concept of law. Therefore, the article aims to describe the foundations of this doctrine and reconstruct its theoretical and historical background. Additionally, it examines Heller's critique of that doctrine and his advocacy for a unified concept of law, which corresponds to the constitutional concept of parliamentary law. Additionally, attention is paid to the debate sparked by the conference between Heller and Kelsen. Lastly, the potentials of this conception are analyzed to consider the connection between democracy and social theory in the social Rechtsstaat.

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Author Biography

Oliver W. Lembcke, Universidad Ruhr de Bochum, Alemania

Berlin, Alemania, 1969. Actualmente se desempeña como profesor de ciencia política en la Universidad de Bochum, Alemania. Es investigador de la Universidad Vrije de Amsterdam, Países Bajos, y miembro del área de política y derecho de la Asociación Alemana de Ciencia Política. Entre sus temas de investigación se encuentran tanto las teorías normativas como las empíricas de la democracia, el control judicial de constitucionalidad, la teoría política y la historia de las ideas del constitucionalismo. Entre sus obras se destacan: Verena Frick & Oliver W. Lembcke (eds.). Hermann Hellers demokratischer Konstitutionalismus (2022). Oliver W. Lembcke & Florian Weber (eds.). Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès: Political Writings (2014). Oliver W. Lembcke, Claudia Ritzi & Gary S. Schaal (eds.) Zeitgenössische Demokratietheorie (2012). Über das Ansehen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts. Ansichten und Meinungen in der Öffentlichkeit 1951-2001 (2010).

Published

2023-08-01

How to Cite

Lembcke, O. W. (2023). Constitutional Law in the social Rechtsstaat: On a fundamental concept of Heller’s state theory. Perspectivas Revista De Ciencias Sociales, 8(15). https://doi.org/10.35305/prcs.v8i15.709