Schmitt — Sovereignty Mapping

Who decides? Who declared the exception? Friend or enemy?

Carl Schmitt’s political theology identifies the sovereign — whoever decides on the state of exception — and maps the friend/enemy distinction that structures all politics.

Key Questions

• Who decides? Identify the actual decision-maker, not the nominal authority.
• State of exception? Has normal law been suspended? By whom?
• Friend/enemy? What is the fundamental political distinction being drawn?
• Political theology? What secular structures mirror religious authority?