Religion, Law, and Democracy

Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde (1930-2019) was a Professor emeritus of Public Law at the University of Freiburg. He is one of the best-known and most influential German legal scholars in the post-war period. From 1983-1996 he served as Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. In the 1960s, Böckenförde was one of the founders of the journal Der Staat - Zeitschrift für Staatslehre, Öffentliches Recht und Verfassungsgeschichte. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party and served as a long-time legal advisor to it.

The subject matter is interesting and provides an insight into middle European and South German politics and the religious influence on legal life.

• Mirjam Künkler: Freedom in Religion, Freedom in the State: Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde on Religion, Law, and Democracy Part I: Catholic Church and Political Order Mirjam Künkler and Tine Stein: Böckenförde on the relation of the Catholic Church and Christians to democracy and authoritarianism I: The Ethos of Modern Democracy and the Church [1957] II: German Catholicism in 1933: A Critical Examination [1961] III: Types of Christian Worldly Conduct during the Nazi-Regime [1965] IV: Religious Freedom Between the Conflicting Demands of Church and State [1964-79] Part II: State and Secularity Mirjam Künkler and Tine Stein: Böckenförde on the Secular State and Secular Law V: The Rise of the State as a Process of Secularization [1967] VI: The Fundamental Right of Freedom of Conscience [1969] VII: Remarks on the Relation between State and Religion in Hegel [1982] VIII: The Secularized State: Its Character, Justification, and Problems in the Twenty-First Century [2007] Part III: On the Theology of Law and Political Theory Mirjam Künkler and Tine Stein: Böckenförde on the Relationship Between Theology, Law and Political Theory IX: Political Theory and Political Theology: Comments on their reciprocal relationship [1981] X: Reflections on a Theology of Modern Secular Law [1999] XI: A Christian in the Office of Constitutional Judge [1999] XII: On the Authority of Papal Encyclicals: the Example of Pronouncements on Religious Freedom [2005] Part IV: Basic Norms and the Principle of Human Dignity Mirjam Künkler and Tine Stein: Böckenförde on the Right to Life, Human Dignity, and its Meta-positive Foundations XIII: Abolition of § 218 of the Criminal Code? Reflections on the Current debate about the prohibition of abortion under German Criminal Law [1971] XIV: Human Dignity as a Normative Principle: Fundamental Rights in the Bioethics Debate [2003] XV: Will Human Dignity Remain Inviolable? [2004] Part V: Böckenförde in Context XVI: Dieter Gosewinkel: Biographical Interview with Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde [2011]