Militant Democracy - the Concept and the Policy

The publication clarifies the concept and the policy of militant democracy, as a response of a democratic state to political extremism, both from the right and from the left. The foundations of the concept were laid by Karl Loewenstein, who reacted to the growing fascism in inter-war Europe, but also warned against communism. Liberal democracy had to become militant to survive and had to restrict the rights of its political enemies. Quite comprehensively the author captures the state of the elaboration of the issue of militant democracy and the possibility of its further research. He describes the existing ideological types of defending democracy, including the used terminology. He provides an overview of the instruments of militant democracy which are largely of a repressive, but also of an educational nature. In particular, it is about the restriction of the right of association as the anti-system parties pose the main political threat to democracies of the 21st century. It provides a detailed analysis of the reasons, legal criteria and consequences of the "ban" on anti-system parties.