The Federal System of Hannah Arendt: A Structure Built Upon Participation
Abstract
In this thesis, I reconstruct Hannah Arendt’s theory of federalism through a novel
interpretation of the relationship between power and authority in her work. Though
numerous scholars underscore the import of federalism for Arendt’s politics, theorists
have remained silent; some, who champion her council state, acknowledge its federal
character – yet none have sought her federal theory. I argue the federal system for
Arendt shares a necessary and constitutive relationship to the council state. For
Arendt, federal authority is derived from an act of foundation by already constituted
powers, while the preservation of this authority depends upon the ongoing capacity
of those powers to act individually and collectively. This means, for Arendt, that
the federal system demands the specific form of direct public participation in government
institutionalized by the council state for its longevity, otherwise it will degenerate.
Through exposing Arendt’s federal thought, I show that her reflections on federalism
offer valuable insights into the division of powers, the system of checks and balances,
the relationship between law and politics, the role of a constitutional court, as
well as the danger posed by representative democracy, in what amounts in the last
instance to a radical re-conception of the federal republic.
Type
Capstone projectDepartment
Graduate Liberal StudiesPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/21080Citation
Block, Mav (2020). The Federal System of Hannah Arendt: A Structure Built Upon Participation. Capstone project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/21080.Collections
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