After exception: Carl Schmitt’s legal institutionalism and the repudiation of exceptionalism

The article discusses Carl Schmitt's revision of his own theory after 1928 as he gradually moved from exceptionalism to legal institutionalism. Although this aspect of Schmitt's theorizing has so far attracted limited attention, we claim that his institutional turn casts a novel light on his theory overall. We emphasize the role social practices and social normativity play in this new framework while they were almost neglected in the most famous writings of the 1920s. Based on this, we foreground Schmitt's new understanding of the activity of legal and political authorities in the construction and maintenance of the political community. The conclusion is that Schmitt's new conceptualization is as reactionary as it was his exceptionalism, and yet is theoretically much more compelling.