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This chapter focuses specifically on the function and character of the political system in Luhmann's account of modern society. In English-speaking receptions of his work, this is perhaps the least-known aspect of his sociology, and it may come as a surprise to some readers that Luhmann sets out a detailed account of the political system and of the conditions of its legitimacy, and that he clearly enters a field of debate usually monopolized by ideal-type conceptions of government and by normative preconditions. Indeed, one unusual aspect of Luhmann's reflections on politics is that, at first glance at least, they might appear to sit rather uneasily with the resolutely anti-normative methodology which he deploys in his more general sociology. At times, moreover, Luhmann expressly distances his work from all prescriptive conceptions of political theory and political philosophy." As will be discussed, however, in his views on politics he is keen to show that the political system can only fulfil certain functions, and that its legitimacy relies on its recognition of these and its adequate reference to these and these alone. On these grounds, although he never fully subscribes to one categorical and exclusive model of good political order, Luhmann does offer a broad and flexible blueprint for determining which types of political system tend successfully to preserve themselves (that is, maintain legitimacy) and which do not.

DOI: 10.1057/9780230503588_3

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