On the possibility of decision for socialism in Weimar Constitution

Implications and assumptions of Otto Kirchheimer’s thesis

Abstract

Kirchheimer, within a tradition opened by Carl Schmitt, advocates the thesis according with the absence of a decision for socialism, inWeimar Constitution, would have implicated an undefined space, which would have been therefore occupied by bourgeoise partisans. Behind that thesis lies the unthematized assumption that referred decision would not only be desirable but also possible. Thisarticle proceeds with a reconstruction of the transcendental ground of that possibility, on the hermeneutical horizon, from which critical perspectives about (Social) Welfare State idea of commitment are addressed.It further explores the constitution of that possibility and the way by which, apparently deriving from it, the sovereign decision, on political and constitutional sphere, would impact the hermeneutical activity of Courts. The object of this article comprehends, furthermore, the implications of the positive constitutional field on the courts’ concretization of fundamental social rights and the problem of the assumption, by Schmitt andKirchheimer, of the possibility of a decision like the one referred on the political ground.