Democracy’s enemies do not sit idle – so why should its defences? With Democracy despite Itself, I aim to revive ‘militant democracy’, the idea that a democratic state should adopt strong mechanisms of constitutional entrenchment to defend itself against internal antidemocrats who aim to subvert it using legal democratic means. The threat of a legalistic attack on democracy is not hypothetical: recent history is rife with examples of democracies around the world – such as Turkey, Hungary, India, the United States, Israel and Venezuela – being subverted by popularly elected antidemocrats who subsequently used their legal powers to dismantle democratic norms and institutions in pursuit of so-called ‘illiberal democracy’.
My reply first reconstructs the motivation and structure of Democracy despite Itself. It then responds to concerns that Niesen raises in his review: that this model overprotects basic liberal rights, particularly property rights, thereby risking the entrenchment of a capitalist market order. Second, that it underprotects political rights, thereby allowing a majority to abrogate formal democratic procedures. Third, that militant democracy may not be practically effective against antidemocratic parties whose power rests on a strong base oriented primarily by unspecific resentment, such as the authoritarian-populist party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).
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SchupmannBenjamin A.2024. Democracy Despite Itself: Liberal Constitutionalism and Militant Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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