“Ducai” or “Zhuanzheng”?An Analysis of Schmitt’s Concept of “Diktatur” through Its Chinese Translation
Author: Shang-ju Yang
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
Carl Schmitt provides us with a profound and distinct exposition of the concept of the diktatur (dictator), reconstructing this political controversial concept from a jurisprudential perspective. However, in Chinese academic circles, diktatur has been generally translated as zhuanzheng. This translation derives from the Marxist concept of wuchan jieji zhuanzheng (or “dictatorship of the proletariat”). However, a close examination of Schmitt’s work reveals that the Chinese translation zhuanzheng does not accurately capture his use of the concept or its political orientation
In Schmitt’s theory, the concept of dictatorship is differentiated into two types. One is the “commissioners’ dictatorship,” which is an institution within the constitutional framework and functions to maintain the entire constitutional order; the other is “sovereign dictatorship,” which is, on the contrary, apart from the constitution, and refers to the state powers that groups involved in the designing of a new constitution or revolutionary parties hold during the revolutionary period before a new constitution is established. Looking at the history of political thought, Schmitt argues that the former emerged from the institution of the dictator in ancient Rome, while the later emerged from the French Revolution and subsequently became an important concept in Marxist theory.
This article highlights Schmitt’s distinction between the two concepts of dictatorship and his analytical separation of sovereign dictatorship and the concept of dictatorship under Marxism. Although Schmitt affirms the necessity of extraordinary presidential powers to be exercised in an emergency, he also warns of the danger of the communist revolutionary political standing and argued that the revolutionary proposals of the Weimar communists in parliament should be rejected as long as the Weimar Constitution remained in effect, since to allow them would negate any difference with the revolutionary period. On this basis, Schmitt refers the concept of dictatorship back to the classic Roman tradition.