Defending Democracy in the Light of Growing Radicalization: Tensions within Germany’s Militant Democracy•

Abstract

Germany has experienced repeated waves of far-right radicalization and violence since Reunification in 1990. This article discusses the German approach against this threat to democracy, an approach seeking to pre-emptively limit the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of radical groups before they can attack the country’s political institutions. This particular approach builds on the idea of “militant democracy”, shaping Germany’s response to radicalization following the country’s lessons from the national-socialist power takeover. This article also points to the legal tension between “militant democracy”, its aim of guaranteeing the basic democratic order by preventing and prosecuting extremism by criminal law, and the fundamental rights laid down in the Constitution, such as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.