CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Maftean, Miles Roger |
|---|---|
| Title | 'Fighting Fire with Fire': A Normative Exploration of the Militant Democracy Principle |
| Summary | The concept of militant democracy – a democratic regime that institutionalizes mechanisms and is authorized to protect civil and political freedom by preemptively restricting antidemocratic action – has seen a resurgence in the last years, as a response to the rise of extremist political action and the backsliding of democracies into more authoritarian regimes. The goal of a militant democracy has been to oppose anti-democratic attempts at dismantling democratic institutions through fundamental rights restrictions (e.g. freedom of speech, freedom of assembly). While much of the literature has been descriptive analysis by comparative constitutional lawyers and political scientists, others have approached the question in a more philosophical way. Contemporary political theorists ask whether the anti-democratic, illiberal nature of militant democracy can be reconciled with democracy. Theorists believe that democratic states do have a right to defend themselves from internal threats which seek to dismantle a democratic way of life, however, they often point to militant democracy’s paradoxical nature and attempt to limit the costs associated with rights restrictions. What has been missing from the literature is an overall normative defense of this institution. This thesis provides such a normative defense and posits a novel model, based on two-levels of justification: the principled level and the political-institutional level. The normative defense of militant democracy lies in its goal: to protect the underlying liberal-democratic values, principles, and norms: moral equality, respect, and toleration. Understanding the goal of militant democracy in this light provides a sound theoretical framework by which to analyze why, whether, and to what extent, militant measures can be used to combat threats to a liberal-democratic state. |
| Supervisor | Dimitrijevic, Nenad |
| Department | Political Science PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/maftean_miles.pdf |
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