The concept of the state in German political thought.

Abstract

It appeared that the troubled history of German political thought had finally come to an end in the consensus of the Bonn Republic about the de-thronement of the concept of the state. Debate in the Berlin Republic, however, suggests that the concept of the state has become contentious once again. In part this is fed by the resonance of past debates and connotations but it is also a product of new complexities in governance. The result is that the state may no longer be linked with the language of crisis. Instead it is associated with the language of paradox.