Abstract

In this paper I examine Hermann Heller’s idea of sovereignty in the context of the debate on the Weimarian constitution that took place between 1919 and 1933. In particular, in my analysis of Heller’s works Sovereignty and Doctrine of the State, I highlight, on the one hand, the importance of the concept of mediation and how such a concept is influenced by the modern classical thinking, especially Bodin’s and Hegel’s scholarship. On the other, I devote attention to a more contemporary debate, i.e. how Heller’s theory of sovereignty vehemently opposes Carl Schmitt’s understanding thereof.