Zugl.: Vechta, Universiẗat, Diss., 2006.

Based on author's thesis, Freiburg i. B. / Bibliography: p. [286]-291.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Universität Vechta, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [370]-380) and index.

This thesis investigates in three parts the role played by metatheory in the discipline of International Relations (IR). Part one defines metatheory as 'systematic discourse about theory' and classifies it in a typology combining elements internal or external to the discipline with intellectual or contextual aspects of theorising. Each combination has particular functions. They also add to the roles played by several modes of metatheoretical inquiry (hermeneutical, evaluative, corrective, critical and historical). The typology offered in part one clarifies the general roles of metatheory as a constraining and enabling discursive mechanism. This is also discussed in part two, addressing how IR scholars portray metatheory's role in the discipline. Arguments against and in favour of metatheory are scrutinised, leading to a qualified defence of metatheoretical research in IR. Some of the negative impact of metatheorising in IR is acknowledged, but ultimately a stronger case attempting to eliminate it from the field cannot be sustained for analytical reasons. The merits of metatheory, therefore, will depend on how it operates in particular instances. A selection of illustration cases in part three further develops the argument. The first case stresses how metatheoretical directives shaped 17th century views of the Holy Roman Empire. It indicates that metatheory can frame theoretical claims even in a weak disciplinary context. A stronger disciplinary environment frames the second case, analysing a number of IR theories on the impact of the Peace of Westphalia in the European states-system. This discussion often alludes to the notion of hierarchy. The third case examines the interaction between metatheoretical directives and theories of hierarchy. These arguments are not necessarily compatible with the metatheoretical principles argued by their authors. As a mechanism, therefore, metatheory does not relate to theory in a deterministic way. Part three itself is, of course, a metatheoretical study that further illustrates the thesis.

This thesis aims at furthering our understanding of the constitutional structures and processes of sui generic associations such as the European Union. The thesis argues that the problematical constitutionalisation of the European Union has highlighted the limitations of the political thought that has served as the basis of political associationalism since the Treaty ofWestphalia (1648) and the publication of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan (1651). These limitations have resulted in the European Union being described, for want of a better expression, as sui generis. The thesis advances the argument that in order to be in a position to understand constitutional relations in a 'non-statal' setting, what is needed is an alternative variant of political thought that is not based in or dependent on the societas canon that originates with Hobbes. One source of such political thought can be located in the work of Johannes Althusius (1557-1638) who, writing in the city of Emden in the Holy Roman Empire in the early 17th Century, described a constitutional structure of a political association that differs in significant features to the centralised state theories of the societas canon. The thesis also argues that the traditional concepts of constitutionalism and political association applied to sui generic constitutionalism are hampered by the inherent weaknesses of modem political and legal vocabulary. Despite being used ad infinitum in the constitutional discussions on the European Union, there is not a precise definition of either the term 'constitution' or treaty' in political or legal theory. Althusius' work avoids this weakness, due to the fact that the centralised state does not enjoy the same position it does in the societas canon, and so the need to classify 'intra' or 'inter' state relationships does not exist to the same degree. While taking the European Union as a workable model of a sui generic association, this thesis does not aim at solving the European Union's constitutional problems or offering a more suitable term to describe its nature. Rather, based on an analysis of Althusius' work, the thesis aims to offer an alternative understanding of the problems that result from the constitutionalisation of sui generic associations.

The modern nation-state is the product of a gradual process in which the religiously concerned medieval political and ecclesiastical synthesis became more secular and centralized. Mirroring this external institutional development, the theoretical conception of the state changed from one of a natural organic unity of diverse corporate members to a consent-based compact among atomized individuals. This change can be traced in the Body Politic metaphor of four authors: John of Salisbury, Christine de Pizan, Johannes Althusius, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In this project, I argue that the Body Politic metaphor, particularly the inclusion or exclusion of a soul of the Body Politic, is uniquely appropriate for capturing the complexity of political life in general across differing levels of aggregation and for elucidating the political and religious commitments of the authors who employ it, as they critique their own contemporary political and religious institutions and describe their ideal societies. In the conclusion, I suggest that the loss of a strongly organic conception of the state has denied modern society and political theory a well established means for incorporating corporate entities and for explaining the existence of the modern nation-state in any kind of transcendental moral context, thus the lost soul of the Body Politic.