Democrazia sive dittatura. Rousseau e il giovane Carl Schmitt (1917-1923)

The present essay explores Carl Schmitt’s interpretation of Rousseau’s Contrat social in his early works. The essay aims at investigating the role of concepts such as dictatorship, democracy, ge- neral will and homogeneity of the people in Carl Schmitt’s political theory. In particular, the essay will be focused on three texts: Diktatur und Belagerungszustand (1916), Die Diktatur (1921) and Die geistesgeschichtliche Lage des heutigen Parlamentarismus (1923), where Rous- seau’s theory is vigorously discussed by Schmitt, although in a partial and sometimes ideological way. In the end of the paper, some critical remarks on Schmitt’s interpretation and his proble- matic theory of “identitarian” democracy are provided.