De Systematibus Civitatum

Abstract This chapter investigates Pufendorf’s concept of systema civitatum or ‘system of states’. The chapter illuminates the concept by excavating it in several contexts. First, it examines the evolution of the term in Pufendorf’s own writings, from his early dissertations on systems of states and irregular states to the posthumously published second edition of his analysis of the Holy Roman Empire. Second, this evolution is plotted against the background of Pufendorf’s conceptual innovations that enabled such an extension, namely, his application of a composite model of human decision-making at the level of what he would call the ‘moral person’ of the state. Third, Pufendorf’s writings on systems of states are discussed in the light of the international political situation in Europe. Fourth, and finally, the chapter turns briefly to the twentieth century and the appropriation of Pufendorf’s concept of a system of states in the theory of international relations.