Carl Schmitt on the Limits of Direct Democracy

This paper offers an in-depth analysis of Volksentscheid und Volksbegehren, a hitherto untranslated short monograph of Schmitt’s that offers both an interpretation of the Weimar Constitution’s provisions for popular referenda as well as a reflection on the limits of direct democracy. The paper argues that Schmitt was concerned to limit the scope of popular legislative initiative under the Weimar Constitution as much as possible. This result suggests that it is wrong to interpret Schmitt as a defender of direct democracy who was concerned to preserve the constituent authority of the people against a parliamentary system controlled by political elites