Political Theology and German Ordoliberalism : On Europe

Contemporary analyses hold that a German Ideology is governing the Eurozone. This ideology is German ordoliberalism. In these analyses European public policy is said to have been caged in by ordoliberal preferences for fiscal austerity. In distinction, the identification of ordoliberalism with austerity is far too narrow to support the idea of an ordoliberal Europe. The paper focuses on the ordoliberal understanding of the relationship between state and society, and free economy and mass democracy. It introduces Carl Schmitt’s political theology as theoretical context, charts the ordoliberals argument for restricting democratic government, presents the structure of European decision-making, and concludes on the possible meanings of democracy in an ordoliberal Europe.