WHAT IS MISSING ABOUT THEORY?
AN ANALYSIS OF (THE ABSENCE OF) THEORETICAL REFLECTION ON LAW IN THE CONTEXT OF AN AUTHORITARY POLITICAL REGIME
Keywords:
Theory of Law, Democracy, AuthoritarianismAbstract
The aim of this essay was to explore the conditions that make it possible to affirm that the development of a critical reflection on law is indispensable for a democratic society. To demonstrate this, we will resort to an experience born out of adversity: the development of theoretical legal investigations in the midst of authoritarian regimes. We will focus on the regime that marked the 20th century as the perpetrator of a tragedy of indescribable humanitarian dimensions: the Third Reich. In the first part of the essay, the formation of dogmatic German public law until its unfolding in the democratic period is reconstructed. In the second part, the features of theoretical reflection on law during the Nazi period are presented. Finally, we conclude that the resurgence of the necessary critical dimension of the theory of law, without the development of efficient criteria to promote a critical debate concerning judicial decisions, represents a very serious symptom that the political regime has fallen ill. The theoretical reflection on law and democracy are, therefore, two sides of the same coin.
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