MILITANT DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
This article examines the concept of militant democracy, a particular form of democratic order that actively defends itself against political actors and ideologies aiming to destroy democracy by using democratic institutions. The study focuses on the complex interrelationship between militant democracy and fundamental human rights and freedoms in the context of safeguarding the democratic order. Since militant democracy inherently involves the possibility of restricting certain rights to prevent antidemocratic actions, this article examines the normative justifiability of such limitations. The theoretical analysis traces the evolution of the concept of militant democracy through the works of key political and legal theorists, with special emphasis on Karl Loewenstein and Hans Kelsen. Alongside a conceptual approach, the authors analyse the application and acceptability of the instruments of militant democracy through the practice of competent judicial bodies. The findings reveal that there is no single position on the acceptability of militant democracy in legal theory whereas certain measures of militant democracy, especially the ban on political parties that advocate undemocratic goals, are recognized and accepted in legal practice as legitimate means for preserving democratic institutions.
Keywords: militant democracy, human rights, limitation of human rights, legal theory, legal practice.
Books and articles
Beširević, V. 2012. A Short Guide to Militant Democracy: Some Remarks on the Strasbourg Jurisprudence. In: Benedek, W. et al. (eds.), European Yearbook of Human Rights. Bremerhaven: NW Verlag, Intersentia, pp. 243–258.
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Beširević, V. 2013b. Ubiti pticu rugalicu? Militantna demokratija u jurisprudenciji Evropskog suda za ljudska prava. In: Beširević, V. (ed.), Militantna demokratija: nekada i sada. Beograd: Pravni fakultet Univerzitet Union, Službeni glasnik, pp. 87–122.
Beširević, V. 2023. Militant democracy: a friend or enemy of democratic backsliding?. In: Tushnet, M. & Kochenov, D. (eds.), Research Handbook on the Politics of Constitutional Law. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 658–673. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839101649.00045
Dimitrijević, N. 2013. Militantna demokratija, konstitucionalna demokratija i osnovna prava: da li su prijatelji demokratije neprijatelji slobode?. In: Beširević, V. (ed.), Militantna demokratija: nekada i sada. Beograd: Pravni fakultet Univerzitet Union, Službeni glasnik, pp. 31–60.
Invernizzi Accetti, C. & Zuckerman, I. 2017. What’s Wrong with Militant Democracy?. Political Studies, 65(1), pp. 182–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321715614849
Jovanović, M. A. 2013. Ima li „borbena demokratija“ alternativu? Pogled iz perspektive tranzicionog društva. In: Beširević, V. (ed.), Militantna demokratija: nekada i sada. Beograd: Pravni fakultet Univerzitet Union, Službeni glasnik, pp. 185-206.
Kaltwasser, C. R. 2019. Militant Democracy Versus Populism. In: Malkopoulou, A. & Kirshner, A. S. (eds.), Militant Democracy and Its Critics: Populism, Parties, Extremism. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd, pp. 72–92. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474445627-007
Kelsen, H. 2000. On the Essence and Value of Democracy. In: Jacobson, A. J. & Schlink, B. (eds.), Weimar: A Jurisprudence of Crisis. Berkeley / Los Angeles: University of California Press, pp. 67–109.
Kelsen, H. 2006. Verteidigung der Demokratie: Abhandlungen zur Demokratietheorie. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Loewenstein, K. 1937a. Militant Democracy and Fundamental Rights I. The American Political Science Review, 31(3), pp. 417–432. https://doi.org/10.2307/1948164
Loewenstein, K. 1937b. Militant Democracy and Fundamental Rights II. The American Political Science Review, 31(4), pp. 638–658. https://doi.org/10.2307/1948103
Marinković, T. 2013. Koliko je militantna “militantna demokratija”?: Primer zabrane političkih partija u uporednom pravu. In: Beširević, V. (ed.), Militantna demokratija: nekada i sada. Beograd: Pravni fakultet Univerzitet Union, Službeni glasnik, pp. 123–184.
Müller, J. W. 2012. Militant Democracy. In: Rosenfeld, M. & Sajó, A. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1253–1269. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199578610.013.0062
Müller, J. W. 2016. Protecting Popular Self-Government from the People? New Normative Perspectives on Militant Democracy. Annual Review of Political Science, 19, pp. 249–265. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-043014-124054
Müller, J. W. 2019. Individual Militant Democracy. In: Malkopoulou, A. & Kirshner, A. S. (eds.), Militant Democracy and Its Critics: Populism, Parties, Extremism. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd, pp. 13–37. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474445627-004
Pantelić, N. & Radojević, M. 2021. (Zlo)upotreba mera militantne demokratije-lojalnost državnih službenika i ograničenje političkog udruživanja. In: Primena prava i pravna sigurnost, Zbornik radova 34. Susreta Kopaoničke škole prirodnog prava – Slobodan Perović. Beograd: Kopaonička škola prirodnog prava – Slobodan Perović, pp. 461–477.
Podunavac, M. 2013. Borbena demokratija: konstrukcija neprijatelja demokratije u istorijskim i savremenim političkim društvima. In: Beširević, V. (ed.), Militantna demokratija: nekada i sada. Beograd: Pravni fakultet Univerzitet Union, Službeni glasnik, pp. 61–85.
Rensmann, T. 2011. Munich Alumni and the Evolution of International Human Rights Law. European Journal of International Law, 22(4), pp. 973–991. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chr073
Rijpkema, B. 2018. Militant Democracy: The Limits of Democratic Tolerance. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429427374
Rummens, S. 2019. Resolving the Paradox of Tolerance. In: Malkopoulou, A. & Kirshner, A. S. (eds.), Militant Democracy and Its Critics: Populism, Parties, Extremism. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd, pp. 112–132. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474445627-009
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Tyulkina, S. 2015. Militant Democracy: Undemocratic political parties and beyond. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315767819
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