Synthesizer of Constitutional Theory, 1958–1963 65
Modern sociology and political science do not weary of stressing
that politics is about the manipulation of masses by elites, particu-
larly through clever use of symbols; in order to beat an enemy, one
must merely be cleverer.^32
Neumann’s linking of Lasswell to Machiavelli exemplifies the
types of arguments Habermas encountered as he eschewed politi-
cal science and began to investigate the emancipatory resources of
constitutional law. Habermas concluded his 1961 magazine article
by indicting what he called the “recent Machiavellianism between
market-research and emergency-law,” which has caused an “anti-
Communist desiccation of democracy – for democracy.”^33 By
“Machiavellianism,” Habermas meant that the anticommunist rhet-
oric deployed by the CDU in the elections echoed a central question
of Machiavelli’s political theory – “How can... life be made more
secure politically?”^34
Neumann had written that democracy “is not a state-form like
any other” because its essence consists in its ability to promote
human freedom. Similarly, Habermas wrote, “Democracy works
for the self-determination of humanity, and only when this is real,
is it true. Political participation then becomes identical with self-
determination.”^35 Habermas has since repudiated the Abendrothian
program of a socialist democracy, but his ideal of democracy remains
consistent with much of Neumann’s.^36
THREE DIMENSIONS OF THE RULE OF LAW: SEPARATION OF POWERS,
GENERALITY OF THE LEGAL NORM, AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
In “Political Participation,” Habermas portrayed the West German
Rechtsstaat as a hollow institutional framework beset by contradic-
tions, but one that nonetheless contained an “intention” that pointed
(^32) Franz Neumann, “The Concept of Political Freedom” [1954], in Democratic
and Authoritarian State: Essays in Political and Legal Theory (Glencoe: The
Free Press, 1957), 61.
(^33) Habermas, “Die Bundesrepublik – Ein Wahlmonarchie?”
(^34) Habermas, “Die Klassische Lehre” [ 1961 ], Theorie und Praxis, 42.
(^35) Habermas, Student und Politik, 11
(^36) And this despite Habermas’s pronounced lack of interest in Neumann’s
work in the 1990s. William Scheuerman encouraged Habermas to revisit
Neumann without success. For Habermas’s repudiation of Abendroth’s
version of socialist democracy, see Chapter 5.