Hermann Heller on Authoritarian Liberalism and the Form of Democratic State

Özet

Öz This study examines Hermann Heller’s ideas on authoritarian liberalism and the form of the democratic state, which continue to be relevant for current discussions on the rise of authoritarian neoliberal regimes. Heller conceives democracy as popular sovereignty. Accordingly, the principle of popular sovereignty imposes a certain form to a state, which is nothing other than the constitutional state. He inseparably binds the organizational features of constitutional state (such as the rule of statutory law and separation of powers) to popular sovereignty, so that one side cannot be effectively realized in the absence of the other. On the other hand, he makes a sound and theoretically backed examination of what the authoritarian state actually is. In this way, Heller develops solid arguments against the efforts to reconcile authoritarian form of the state with popular sovereignty. Heller addresses conventional concepts such as parliamentarism, democratic authority, and the constitutional state, which are often considered outmoded or obsolete. While he clarifies the meaning of these concepts and analyzes their connection with the state organs, he defends and graces them as well.