The Origins of Nations States

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The Origins of Nations States
In 1992, Carl Schmitt, a German legal theorizer defined sovereignty in the emerging era of democratic constitutionalism as the capacity to create a state of exception. Approximately a century later, Giorgio Agamben endeavored to magnify Schmitt’s idea. In his endeavor, Agamben referenced Abraham Lincoln’s Congressional speech on justifying war against the Confederacy. Agamben and Schmitt and by extension, Lincoln have their positions regarding the concept of a state of exception. The perceived meaning of the state of exception by Schmitt, justification of Agamben’s view that modern governments function on the precepts of state exception and Lincoln’s reasons on the war against the Confederacy and a stance on Agamben’s opinion that Lincoln established a state of exception form the foundation of this paper.
A state of exception as defined by Carl Schmitt is akin to a state of emergency. However, it is founded on the capacity of a country to surpass constitutionalism with a view of upholding the public good. Schmitt perceived that in a state of exception, the executive would have independence from any constitutional limitations that would apply in a standard scenario (Schmitt 4). With this concept in place, governments can freeze some of the legal restraints thus enabling the authorities to handle a difficult situation without any legal restrictions.
Agamben opines that state of exclusion has become the standard of contemporary governments.

In this statement, the theorist implies that today’s regimes have undertaken to actualize a state of exception from within juridical boundaries thus making it a legal practice (Humphreys 3). The governments have therefore created a precinct of in-distinction whereby laws and fact concur. It thus implies that governments perceive what is at stake as the law itself.
Lincoln justified his decision to fight against the Confederacy by saying that he had a duty to defend and uphold the constitution of the US. Lincoln also said that his actions were within the constitutional competency of the US Congress (Lincoln 1). Abraham Lincoln established a state of exception without seeking the input of the Congress which formed precedence followed by later administrations.
In conclusion, a state of exclusion as defined by Car Schmitt is indeed a state of emergency founded on the capacity of a government to exceed the rule of law. Contemporary governments use this concept within the existing juridical confines. Last, Abraham Lincoln created a state of exclusion which set a standard followed by later U.S governments.

Works Cited
Humphreys, Stephen. Legalizing Lawlessness: On Giorgio Agamben’S the State Of Exception. 17th ed., University Of Chicago Press, 2006, pp. 1-11, http://www.ejil.org/pdfs/17/3/208.pdf. Accessed 27 Sept 2018.
Lincoln, Abraham. “Message to Congress in Special Session | Teaching American History.” Teachingamericanhistory.Org, 2018, http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/message-to-congress-in-special-session/. Accessed 27 Sept 2018.
Schmitt, Carl. Political theology: Four chapters on the concept of sovereignty. University of Chicago Press, 2005 pp. 1-12.