Sovereignty and Liberty ─ A Study of the Foundations of Power

"Sovereignty and Liberty: The Foundations of Power is a study of the place of law in the idea of liberty. It addresses the reasons why law lies at the heart of a democratic model of government in order to consider how shifts in the conception of human existence have led to a crisis of our faith in laws capacity to guarantee liberty. Legal theorists and political scientists almost invariably consider the question of liberty as a matter of its more or less successful translation into politico-legal order, whether it be in terms of rational choice, ideological commitment or an idea of republican government. But, in so doing, they usually fail to consider the subtle mechanisms by which subjection to law informs the articulation of liberty. Sovereignty and Liberty engages this foundational question of public law and constitutional order, in order to consider the dramatic changes to the state-bound orders of Western societies that have occurred during the 20th century; especially as they relate to our disenchantment with sovereign power and the forms of community that have grown up around it. "--

Amnon Lev is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen. His research focuses on law and ethics and on the nexus of philosophy and political form. Previous publications include: Filosofi og Politisk Tankning hos Aristoteles (Philosophy and Political Thought in Aristotle).