Carl Schmitt ranks among the original and controversial political thinkers of the twentieth century. This book contains translations of Schmitt's 1958 commentary on the work, explanatory notes, and an appendix including articles of the Weimar constitution. Translator's Preface ix Identifying or Exploiting the Paradoxes of Constitutional Democracy? An Introduction to Carl Schmitt's Legality and Legitimacy JOHN P. McCORMICK xiii Legality and Legitimacy Introduction: The Legislative State System of Legality Corn-pared to Other State Types (Jurisdiction, Governmental, and Administrative Staten 3(14) I The System of Legality of the Parliamentary Legislative State 1. The Legislative State and the Concept of Law 17(10) 2. Legality and the Equal Chance for Achieving Political Power 27(12) II The Three Extraordinary Lawgivers of the Weimar Constitution 3. The Extraordinary Lawgiver Ratione Materiae: The Second Principal Part of the Weimar Constitution as a Second Constitution 39(20) 4. The Extraordinary Lawgiver Ratione Supremitatis: Actual Meaning-Plebiscitary Legitimacy instead of Legislative State Legality 59(8) 5. The Extraordinary Lawgiver Ratione Necessitates: Actual Meaning-The Administrative State Measure Displaces the Parliamentary Legislative State Statute 67(18) Conclusion 85(10) Afterword (1958) 95(8) Appendix: Selected Articles of the Weimar Constitution 103(6) Notes 109(52) Works Cited by Carl Schmitt in Legality and Legitimacy 161(4) Index 165