Patrick Nitzschner
Affilierad
On militant democracy’s institutional conservatism
Författare
Summary, in English
This article critically reconstructs militant democracy’s ‘institutional conservatism’, a theoretical preference for institutions that restrain transformation. It offers two arguments, one historical and one normative. Firstly, it traces a historical development from a substantive to a procedural version of institutional conservatism from the traditional militant democratic thought of Schmitt, Loewenstein and Popper to the contemporary militant democratic theories of Kirshner and Rijpkema. Substantive institutional conservatisms theorize institutions that hinder transformation of the existing order; procedural conservatisms encourage transformation but contain and limit it within the boundaries of existing institutions. Secondly, the article uses resources internal to this historical reconstruction to make the normative case that even the procedural version of institutional conservatism, which characterizes contemporary theories of militant democracy, is problematic from a democratic perspective. The reason for this is that it unjustifiably restricts fundamental democratic change to existing institutions. In conclusion, the article calls for further engagement with modes of democratic defence that do not limit the possibility of radical democratic change but nevertheless enable the protection of democratic institutions against authoritarian regression.
Avdelning/ar
- Statsvetenskapliga institutionen
Publiceringsår
2025
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
29-49
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Philosophy and Social Criticism
Volym
51
Issue
1
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
SAGE Publications
Ämne
- Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalization Studies)
Nyckelord
- democratic theory
- democratic transformation
- institutional conservatism
- militant democracy
- reconstruction
Aktiv
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 0191-4537