englischThis study intervenes in the current debate on the ‘institutional deficit’ of theories of radical democracy. This family of democratic theories, which is sensitive to crisis diagnostics but rather weak in terms of institutional theory, is confronted with the diversity of understandings of [...]

englischThe dispute about political content, about the orientation and identity of a community is driven by concepts. They are the starting point of controversial interpretive difficulties and at the same time function as a heuristic framework for political science research. However, what in detail [...]

englischLouis Althusser is the blemish on the field of political theory. His barely explored and partly forgotten contributions are nonetheless formative for contemporary critical thought. Interestingly, at their very core his interventions are based on his own extensive readings of early modern [...]

englischThe philosophical foundations of human rights are as complex as they are controversial. For some years, the debate has been dominated by the rather gridlocked opposition between moral and political conceptions of human rights. Moreover, a profound examination of the social and relational [...]

englischThe contributions in this volume commemorate Rainer Schmalz-Bruns by pursuing three essential dimensions of his thought: Part I focuses on connections to Rainer Schmalz-Bruns' work. Part II serves as a comprehensive and controversial discussion of political theory and the history of ideas [...]

englischContemporary concerns about the increase in untruths in politics have renewed interest in the relationship between truth and politics. Is democracy losing its foundations in a ‘post-truth era’ because it is becoming disconnected from reality? Or are facts, to which a technocratic mindset [...]

englischThis volume takes its starting point from one of the most prominent and lively debates in recent political theory, which has been conducted intensively in the German-language context of political theory for more than a decade. At the centre of the discussion is the distinction between [...]

englischBuilding on the work of John Rawls, this book offers a conception of ideal theory which provides practical guidance and a critical perspective on politics, institutions and society. The author develops this approach by discussing recent criticism of ideal theory by authors such as Amartya [...]

englischIn our post-factual era, there hardly seems to be a liberal value that is not subject to doubts. The two greatest challenges to contemporary democracy in particular—neoliberalism and populism—are endangering its promise of free and equal political participation and the ideal of social [...]

englischLiberal representative democracies currently constitute quite contradictory entities. On the one hand, there is the weakness of representative political institutions, the success of populist parties, technocratic tendencies and the emergence of illiberal, plebiscitary forms of rule. On the [...]