Overview

There has been renewed and growing interest in exploring the significant role played by law in the centralization of power and sovereignty – right from the earliest point. This timely book serves as an introduction into state theory, providing an overview of the conceptual history and the interdisciplinary tradition of the continental European general theory of the state. Chapters present a theory of the state grounded in cultural analysis and show liberal democracy to be the paradigm of today’s western nation-state. The analysis includes the emergence of legal forms and institutions that are linked either to the constitutional state (the securing of civil liberties and fundamental rights), the welfare state (social and welfare law), or the network-state (regulation of complex digital technologies). Thomas Vesting focuses on illustrating the fundamental features of these evolutionary stages – the three layers constituting the modern state – and reveals their cultural and social preconditions. This book will be an ideal read for students, postgraduates, and other academic audiences with interests in state theory, jurisprudence, legal theory, political theory, and legal philosophy.

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9781788979313

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Reviews

'This is a timely book that takes a fresh look at an old concept: the state! The original approach chosen by Thomas Vesting consists in a new theory of the state that is focused on its cognitive and cultural meaning. It builds a bridge between legal and political sciences and sheds new light on the knowledge base of both state and society. It rewrites the history of the state and reconfigures the conception of the state of the network society.' -- Karl-Heinz Ladeur, University of Hamburg, Germany

Author Information

Thomas Vesting, Professor for Public Law, Legal Theory and Media Theory, Faculty of Law, Goethe University, Germany

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