Karl Loewenstein mira a la Argentina: “Democracia militante” y defensa nacional en un nuevo tipo de guerra

For Spanish-speaking readers, Karl Loewenstein’s name is mainly known through Teoría de la Constitución, the Spanish title under which his book Political Power and the Governmental Process became known. Although his two 1937 texts on “militant democracy” have not been translated into Spanish, they rank among some of the German jurist’s most recognized contributions. Beyond constitutional theory, however, Loewenstein also delved into comparative public law throughout his intellectual career. Argentina was among the countries he considered when developing ideas on the Constitution and “militant democracy” within the context of World War II and the postwar period. Argentina was not only an intellectual interest for him but also a political one: within this context of global conflict, Argentina played a key role in U.S. defense policy across the continent. This study aims to explore Loewenstein’s ideas on Argentine law and politics in connection with his thesis on defending democracy during World War II. To achieve this, it analyzes his published works on these topics and reviews documents on Argentina from the Amherst College archive, which contain materials that Loewenstein produced and collected. This study expands our understanding of one of the most important jurists of the 20th century while delving into lesser-known aspects of Argentine legal history. Specially, this work aims to contribute to constitutional and political theory on national defense and the defense of democracy, two critical fields in our time.