The present essay explores Carl Schmitt’s interpretation of Rousseau’s Contrat social in his early works. The essay aims at investigating the role of concepts such as dictatorship, democracy, general will and homogeneity of the people in Carl Schmitt’s political theory. In particular, the essay will be focused on three texts: Diktatur und Belagerungszustand (1916), Die Diktatur (1921) and Die geistesgeschichtliche Lage des heutigen Parlamentarismus (1923), where Rousseau’s theory is vigorously discussed by Schmitt, although in a partial and sometimes ideological way. In the end of the paper, some critical remarks on Schmitt’s interpretation and his proble-matic theory of “identitarian” democracy are provided.
