Law as the articulation of the state in Western Germany: A German tradition seen from a British perspective

The main purpose of this paper is to consider why in the Federal Republic of Germany legal categories are still so important in expressing what is understood by ‘the State’. This discussion is not, however, pursued solely in terms of concepts and traditions derived from German legal and political experience. Nor is the matter looked at just within the German context. There is in addition an attempt to look at the problem of law and the state in the Federal Republic against the background both of English legal theories and of contemporary arguments in Britain about constitutional issues. Thus what is offered is also a modest exercise in comparative political analysis.