Name: GUSTAVO CAMPELLO BENEVIDES
Publication date: 11/05/2026
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ALEXANDRE GUILHERME BARROSO DE MATOS FRANCO DE SÁ | Examinador Externo |
| DANIEL ARRUDA NASCIMENTO | Examinador Interno |
| MARCO RAMPAZZO BAZZAN | Presidente |
Summary: This dissertation investigates the concept of sovereign dictatorship in the thought of
Carl Schmitt, situating his theoretical elaboration between his interpretation of Thomas
Hobbes and the European political context shaped by the Bolshevik Revolution. In Die
Diktatur (1921), Schmitt sought to clarify the semantic confusion surrounding the term
“dictatorship” by reconstructing the historical trajectory of the concept from the Roman
Republic to the Russian Revolution. This research examines Schmitt’s distinction
between commissarial and sovereign dictatorship, emphasizing that the former is
conceived as a constitutional instrument aimed at preserving an existing legal order,
whereas the latter emerges as a constituent power capable of instituting a new political
and juridical order. The study also explores Schmitt’s engagement with the Hobbesian
conception of sovereignty, as well as his critical reading of Lenin’s dictatorship of the
proletariat, understood as a form of sovereign and constituent power. Through
historical, hermeneutic, and theoretical analysis, the dissertation seeks to demonstrate
how Schmitt integrates the idea of dictatorship into a broader reflection on sovereignty,
decision, and political legitimacy.
