ABSTRACT
We begin by summarising the body of political-juridical thought developed by Carl Schmitt known as “decisionism”. After describing the intellectual links between Schmitt and Francisco Franco’s regime, we trace the influence of Schmittian ideas on the rhetoric of two of Podemos’ founders, Pablo Iglesias and Íñigo Errejón. Though they do not adopt Schmitt’s ideas wholesale, Schmittian political theory unmistakably helps structure their language. The last section of the chapter identifies two of the main conduits through which Podemos’ leaders became familiar with Schmitt’s ideas: the work of Belgian political theorist Chantal Mouffe, and that of Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben.
