Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-258) and index.
""Samuel Pufendorf, The Present State of Germany ""; ""Front Matter ""; ""Title Page ""; ""Copyright Details ""; ""Table of Contents ""; ""Introduction, p. ix ""; ""A Note on the Text, p. xxix ""; ""Acknowledgments, p. xxxv ""; ""Pufendorf's Preface to the First Edition of 1667 ""; ""Preface to the Second Edition (1706), p. 9 ""; ""To the Reader, p. 15 ""; ""The Contents, p. 17 ""; ""Chapter I. Of the Origene of the German Empire, p. 25 ""; ""Chapter II. Of the Members of which the present German Empire is composed, p. 49 ""; ""Chapter III. Of the Origene of the States of the Empire.
And by what Degrees they arrived to that Power they now have, p. 80 """"Chapter IV. Of the Head of the German Empire, the Emperor, and of the Election and the Electors, p. 96 ""; ""Chapter V. Of the Power of the Emperor, as it now stands limited by Treaties; and the Laws and Customs of the Empire; and the Rights of the States of Germany, p. 111 ""; ""Chapter VI. Of the Form of the German Empire, p. 159 ""; ""Chapter VII. Of the Strength and Diseases of the German Empire, p. 179 ""; ""Chapter VIII. Of the German State-Interest, p. 210 ""; ""Bibliography, p. 249 ""; ""Index, p. 259 ""
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"The Present State of Germany, one of Samuel Pufendorf's earliest and most important works, was first published in 1667 under the pseudonym Severinus de Monzambano. Its blunt, colorful, and unapologetic challenge to mainstream German constitutional law made it enormously controversial as soon as it appeared, and its author was both vilified and exalted in the acrimonious debate that followed. It became one of the most reprinted books of the late seventeenth century.
The work begins by describing the historical origins, specific institutions, and concrete workings of the German empire. It then relates these to the constitutional structure of Germany and the traditional forms of government. Here Pufendorf emphasizes sovereignty as the defining characteristic of a state and distinguishes regular from irregular states in terms of whether sovereignty is unified and effective or not, with Germany falling into the latter group. The final chapters discuss possible remedies for the empire's maladies and address the problem of religious diversity and the political significance of particular confessions."--Jacket.