The aim of the article is to present the origins, basic assumptions, key legal institutions, and controversies around the concept of militant democracy developed in the Federal Republic of Germany, and to characterize the role of the constitutional court within it. Although the above mentioned concept has been strongly criticised by some scholars, the legal institutions which express it have already become firmly rooted in the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. Some of them have even found their counterparts in other countries. Moreover, the considerations on the possibilities of protecting democracy against its pathological transformations towards a more or less undemocratic direction are particularly current in the age of significant growth of the popularity of the Western political movements and leaders who contest the hitherto widespread perception of democracy. According to the author, the legal measures that express the concept of militant democracy can effectively protect the liberal democratic order. However, they should be practised – as it takes place in Germany – moderately.

The German concept of militant democracy. An outline of the issue

The aim of the article is to present the origins, basic assumptions, key legal institutions, and controversies around the concept of militant democracy developed in the Federal Republic of Germany, and to characterize the role of the constitutional court within it. Although the above mentioned concept has been strongly criticised by some scholars, the legal institutions which express it have already become firmly rooted in the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. Some of them have even found their counterparts in other countries. Moreover, the considerations on the possibilities of protecting democracy against its pathological transformations towards a more or less undemocratic direction are particularly current in the age of significant growth of the popularity of the Western political movements and leaders who contest the hitherto widespread perception of democracy. According to the author, the legal measures that express the concept of militant democracy can effectively protect the liberal democratic order. However, they should be practised – as it takes place in Germany – moderately.