"Jeffrey Seitzer's clear and readable translation, together with John McCormick's learned and judicious introduction, now extend to the Anglophone community an opportunity to consider the summation of Schmitt's original, provocative, though internally inconsistent assault on liberal democracy and the rule of law." — Benjamin Gregg , Law and Politics Book Review
"Jeffrey Seitzer's excellent translation of Schmitt's book will . . . be of interest not only to those interested in the history of legal theory, but also to scholars working on contemporary issues of constitutional theory." — Lasse Thomassen , Modern Law Review
"McCormick's introduction to Legality and Legitimacy is insightful, setting the work in its proper historical context. . . ." — Maureen Norton-Hawk, Bimonthly Review of Law Books
"The interplay between Schmitt's critique of legal formalism, his ideas about sovereignty, and the pressing concerns of the political context make Legality and Legitimacy a crucial text for anyone who seeks to understand the precarious stability of parliamentary government and liberal democracy." — Christian J. Emden , H-German, H-Net Reviews
“An English translation of Carl Schmitt’s Legalität und Legitimität is long overdue. Legality and Legitimacy concludes the critique of legal positivism and the rationality of statute law he began in The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy and Political Theology and does so in the historical context of Weimar’s final crisis. It was an important argument at the time and is just as significant seventy-odd years later.” — Ellen Kennedy, author of Constitutional Failure: Carl Schmitt in Weimar
“Carl Schmitt is an unorthodox classic. One of the intellectual grave-diggers of the Weimar Republic, he wrote this brilliant book in the middle of the political crisis, opting for presidential dictatorship. Excellent in its analysis, Legality and Legitimacy is unwise regarding political consequences and without a realistic political vision for the future. This first English-language translation should stimulate European-American dialogue about the vitality of democratic institutions in view of the challenges of antidemocratic and antiliberal temptations.” — Michael Stolleis, University of Frankfurt