Aufbruch zur Demokratie

Abstract

The Weimar Constitution marked Germany’s first sortie into democracy, with the Republic intended to be democratic, humane and constitutional and based on the principle of popular sovereignty. However, its election system of proportional representation favoured small parties and impeded the formation of a government, with its final governments being presidential cabinets. Constitutions are often analysed by various academic fields. While philosophy and historiography set the framework for this analysis, constitutional law may be regarded as the principal discipline in this regard. The social sciences are first and foremost concerned with constitutional reality, and there is indeed strong evidence that it was the Weimar Republic’s lack of socio-economic foundations that ultimately caused its demise. This volume is divided into twelve parts (perspectives) and will appeal to readers interested in politics, law, (contemporary) history, sociology and philosophy. With contributions by Stefan Bajohr, Wolfgang Bergem, Sabine Berghahn, Ursula Büttner, Norbert Campagna, Wolfgang Elz, Heiner Fechner, Helmut Gebhardt, Michael Geistlinger, Christoph Gusy, Volker Haug, Franz Hederer, Tobias Herbst, Peter Hilpold, Marcus Höreth, Ernst-Ulrich Huster, Eckhard Jesse, Herbert Kalb, Daniel-Erasmus Khan, Franz Kohout, Skadi Siiri Krause, Volker Kruse, Stefan Kutzner, Hans-Joachim Lauth, Oliver Lembcke, Matthias Lemke, Thomas Leuerer, Josef Marko, Reinhard Mehring, Martin H.W. Möllers, Martin Morlok, Robert Chr. van Ooyen, Martin Otto, Jürgen Pirker, Monika Polzin, Emanuel Richter, Claus von Rosen, Frank Schale, Stephanie Schiedermair, Theo Schiller, Kamila Staudigl-Ciechowicz, Stefan Storr, Heinz-Elmar Tenorth, Lars Viellechner, Rüdiger Voigt, Christian Waldhoff, Heinrich de Wall und Anita Ziegerhofer.