Origins of Legislative Sovereignty and the Legislative State

Focusing on the 17th and 18th centuries this volume centers around six ideological isms that the author seeks to exploit as well as deconstruct. The six isms are absolutism constitutionalism rationalism empiricism liberalism and conservatismall of which have long presented problematical constructs that the author seeks to de-construct. The unusually broad range of famous thinkers studied here includes Hobbes Locke Richelieu Bossuet Rousseau Montesquieu Voltaire Hume Smith Burke and various French revolutionaries. Although the focus here is historical the contemporary import of the subject is often brought out.