b. 1937
Ingeborg Maus (born 1937) is a German political theorist and legal philosopher, long associated with Goethe University Frankfurt. She is best known for her critical theory of democratic legitimacy, popular sovereignty, and the dangers of judicial overreach in constitutional democracies. Her work extends Kantian and Frankfurt School traditions into debates over democratic self-legislation and the normative foundations of international law.
Developed an influential critique of the judicialization of politics, arguing that courts usurp democratic self-legislation
Theorized popular sovereignty as the irreducible normative basis for legitimate law in democratic states
Extended Kantian republican principles to analyze global governance and international law
Argued that global democratic procedures are necessary to legitimate international institutions
Contributed to debates on constitutional democracy at the intersection of legal philosophy and political theory