This book provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction tothe major political thinkers of modern Germany. It includeschapters on the works of Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, Franz Neumann,Otto Kirchheimer, Jurgen Habermas and Niklas Luhmann. These worksare examined in their social and historical contexts, ranging fromthe period of Bismarck to the present day.A clear picture is presented of the connections between individualtheoretical positions and the general political conditions ofmodern Germany. Areas of political history covered in particulardepth include nineteenth-century legal and parliamentary history,aspects of German liberalism, Weimar social democracy, politicalCatholicism, Adenauer and Erhard, Brandt's reforms and theTendenzwende of the late 1970s. By closely linking intellectual andpolitical history, this work examines how recent German politicaltheory has developed as a set of varying responses to recurringaspects and problems of political life in modern Germany. At thesame time, it addresses the philosophical and politicalimplications of the works which it treats, and it criticallyexamines how modern German political theory has contributed tobroader attempts to theorize political legitimacy and politicsitself.This book will be of interest to students of political theory,German studies and European political history.