Hans Kelsen

"Hans Kelsen is widely recognized as one of the most important legal theorists of the 20th century. Surprisingly, however, his political writings are not nearly as widely known as his legal theory, especially in the English-speaking world. This book fills the void between what is and isn't known about Hans Kelsen's political philosophy, and the ways that philosophy has and will continue to shape political debates inherent to democracy in the future. For the first time in English, this classic book - with an introduction by political theorist Nadia Urbinati - provides an overview of Kelsen's career and his contributions to 20th century political thought." --

This first edition of Kelsen's work on legal theory is a product of his neo-Kantian phase. It contains sections on law and nature, law and morality, overcoming the dualism of legal theory, the hierarchical structure of the legal system and the nature of international law.

"Intended to reforumulate ... thoughts and ideas previously expressed in German and in French" in the author's Allgemeine Staatslehre (1925), Théorie général du droit international public (1928) and Reine Rechtslehre (1934)--Preface.