The volume presents one of the most spectacular pieces from Niklas Luhmann's estate: a comprehensive representation of his political sociology from the late 1960s. It demonstrates how Luhmann, while holding Adorno's chair in Frankfurt, formulated a theory of politics that remained largely unaffected by the trends of contemporary ideological criticism. This theory's fundamental aspects would continue to be upheld by him later on. Unlike his general theory of social systems, which he revised multiple times, his views on the political subsystem of modern society remained largely unchanged. Thus, the volume offers thematically new insights without falling behind the methodological standards of his later writings. Topics that have not previously been systematically addressed by Luhmann include the significance of the audience for administration and politics, as well as political systems.