Social order requires a sovereign: an actor with unlimited, undivided, and unaccountable authority. Or so the classic theory says. But without noticing, we've gutted the theory. Constitutionalism limits state authority. Federalism divides it. The rule of law holds it accountable. In vivid historical detail—with millions tortured and slaughtered in Europe, a king put on trial for his life, journalists groaning at complaints about the League of Nations, and much more—this book charts both the political struggles that forged sovereignty and the ones that undid it. The book argues that it's no lon ... More
Keywords: social order, sovereignty, unaccountable authority, constitutionalism, state authority, federalism, rule of law
Print publication date: 2020 | Print ISBN-13: 9780300247725 |
Published to Yale Scholarship Online: September 2020 | DOI:10.12987/yale/9780300247725.001.0001 |