Divine Democracy

Reviews / Votes

The book shows Vatter's great knowledge of many different registers of political thought from the Middle Ages through the modern world to post-modernity. It is difficult to handle such a broad spectrum of knowledge without error, as he does. Moreover, the book's discussion includes all the relevant bibliography on the theological-political question from the twentieth century, so it is an excellent resource. This is undoubtedly a mature book, the fruit of years of work. * Montserrat Herrero, Theory & Event * Deeply learned and intelligent, Vatter's provocative work on political theology extends beyond the conventional Christian framework and links to predicaments of democracy today. Essential reading for democratic political and legal theorists of every stripe. * Wendy Brown, University of California, Berkeley * We cannot understand the genealogy of modern political thought without reflecting on the multiple ways in which it has been shaped by religious traditions. In this masterpiece of universal scholarship, Miguel Vatter shows in how far "political theology" is not, as is often assumed, inimical to democracy but conducive to it. A great invitation for further debate. * Rainer Forst, Goethe University Frankfurt/Main * Vatter offers a superb analysis of the fortunes of political theology in the twentieth century. Through close readings of Schmitt, Voegelin, Maritain, Kantorowicz, and Habermas, Vatter stakes out a counter-tradition of democratic political theology in which the people rather than the sovereign are the locus of political legitimacy. This book will be of interest not only to scholars of political theology but to all those concerned with democratic legitimation. * Victoria Kahn, University of California, Berkeley * In this learned and inspired book, Miguel Vatter brings new life into the contested idea of political theology. He re-orients our understanding of major twentieth century thinkers, showing them to be engaged in conceptualising a democratic political theology. The striking result is that political theology illuminates the theoretical foundations of cosmopolitanism, populism, human rights, radical democracy, and republican citizenship. Divine Democracy is a major intellectual achievement, a profound re-examination of the fraught relation between politics and religion. * Cecile Laborde, University of Oxford * With incomparable erudition and breathtaking sprezzatura, Miguel Vatter lays out the stakes of political theology for democratic legitimacy. Divine Democracy offers brilliant readings of Schmitt, Voegelin, Maritain, Kantorowicz and Habermas and shows why their views on religion and politics resonate today. * John P. McCormick, University of Chicago *