Power and State in Hegel and Carl Schmitt

The present article deals with the concept of power in the birth and sustenance of the State from the conceptual link of the works of G. W. F. Hegel and Carl Schmitt. Hegel, in Philosophy of Right, proposed an route of the will in its historical movement, whose point of arrival is theState. The will, expressing freedom, would be the dynamizing and founding principle of the State entity itself. Carl Schmitt, following Hegel's reading of the law doctrine, also admitted the will as the basis of the State, superimposed over the law itself, since the law has no power to create the political structure of the size of the state entity. Specifically, the article explores how both the aforementioned philosopher and the political theorist mentioned have provided explanations as to whether power is generated in the internal gears of the state or whether it is transmitted to the state entity from an external source. To achieve this goal, three aspects are analyzed: the first one is the degree of similarity between Hegel's free will and the "decision" elaborated by Schmitt. The second aspect seeks to identify how will and decision are inserted in the composition of the State as a political entity. Finally, this article considers how will and decision in the state are contained or stimulated by the constitutional device.