Philosophy
Georg Zenkert
Die Konstitution der Macht
Kompetenz, Ordnung und Integration in der politischen Verfassung
[The Structure of Power. Competence, Order and Integration in the Political Constitution. Student]
64,00 €
including VAT
including VAT
paper
ISBN 978-3-16-149385-0
available
Published in German.
The widespread scepticism in regard to politics is a result of the inability to define a clear concept of politics. This is due to the fact that the relationship between politics and power has not been clarified. In Georg Zenkert's study, which takes not only a historical but also a systematic standpoint, the author shows that power in principle develops in three dimensions: power is firstly the ability to act, secondly control and lastly the constitutive power of a group. Each of these dimensions find its own suitable medium in the exchange of opinions, in the law and in institutions. The normative standards of power result from the development of the potential competence to act, the potential achievement of order and the potential integration within the framework of the political constitution, all of which are intrinsic to power. While Social sciences and political philosophy today reduce power to authority or control, it can be shown that all three dimensions are based in the history of political thought.