Constituent Power in Early Modern Political Philosophy - by Filippo del Lucchese (Hardcover)

About the Book

Explores the intricate theme of constituent power, a pivotal yet often elusive concept in political philosophy.

Book Synopsis

This book offers an in-depth examination of constituent power through the writings of six major philosophers from the 16th and 17th centuries, highlighting how their ideas have shaped the foundation and transformation of political philosophy.

Filippo Del Lucchese delves into how La Boétie, Bodin, Lipsius, Campanella, Suárez and Hobbes conceptualized and influenced the evolution of this fundamental political idea. By examining their writings, he illuminates the diverse interpretations and the profound impact these thinkers had on the formation of political authority and constitutional frameworks. He also bridges this historical analysis with contemporary debates on democracy, sovereignty and the enduring tension between political foundation and institutional stability in modern legal and political theory.

Review Quotes

Filippo Del Lucchese's Constituent Power in Early Modern Political Philosophy: From La Boétie to Hobbes offers a powerful and highly original account of the emergence of the concept of constituent power from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth century. He shows that constituent power cannot be understood as a formal system that underlies the political order but precisely the principle that renders such a system impossible. Constituent power signifies the constant innovation and maneuver required to re-constitute the constituted order. Del Lucchese allows us to see that the very notion of the consent, voluntarily given, of individuals to their own subjection arose as a weapon wielded by the sovereign power against the multitude. His reflections on a single century of political thought illuminates some of the most urgent problems of our political present.--Warren Montag, Occidental College

Filippo del Lucchese has written a gem of a book in which he shows how early formulations of the concept of constituent power can be found already in the work of early modern thinkers such as Campanella, Lipsius and Bodin, and, moreover, why this inquiry is essential for understanding the modern foundations of political and constitutional authority.--Marco Goldoni, University of Glasgow