Procedural containment vs. substantive entrenchment
Two early models of militant democracy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11348646 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mariano Croce (0000-0002-6520-1298, Sapienza University of Rome, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 529-544 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History of European Ideas (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0191-6599 • E-ISSN: 1873-541X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01916599.2024.2378031 |
| OpenAlex | W4400901488 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 43 |
regarded as the originator of the militant democracy paradigm. In a series of articles in the mid and late 1930s, he argued that constitutional democracies should pre-emptively defend themselves against movements and parties that were seeking to undermine them. More recently, another father of the paradigm has been identified in the controversial figure of Carl Schmitt. Before his despicable and opportunistic support for the Nazi regime at the end of 1933, he advocated a model of authoritarian democracy based on fundamental constitutional contents that should be made impervious to legislative change. This article examines the different models of disciplined and authoritarian democracy proposed by these authors. While both advocated measures that could inhibit the activity of parliamentary majorities composed mainly of parties opposed to the state constitutional structure, Schmitt, more than Loewenstein, made the point that the defence of democracy requires subscribing to substantive values and principles and entrenching them. The juxtaposition of these models makes it clear that militant democracy not only recommends the protection of certain procedures but also entails a normative standard comprising substantive contents. This helps to highlight the unstated normative burdens of democratic militancy
Containment (computer programming · Democracy · Economics · Militant · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Computer Science · Law
Verfassungsrechtliche Aufsätze aus den Jahren 1924–1954. Materialien zu einer Verfassungslehre.
Carl Schmitt's Institutional Theory
Militant Democracy
Carl Schmitt and the problem of constitutional guardianship
Legality and Legitimacy
Vater der Verfassungsväter?
Carl Schmitt's State and Constitutional Theory
Democracy despite Itself
The Legal Theory of Carl Schmitt
Political Theology
Democracy
The dark side of institutionalism
How not to respond to populism
Initiatives opposing populist parties in Europe
Personal enemies, conceptual friends. Karl Loewenstein and Carl Schmitt on self-destructive legalism
Proceduralism and Popular Threats to Democracy
The enemy as the unthinkable
Constraining political extremism and legal revolution
Autocracy Versus Democracy in Contemporary Europe, I
Autocracy Versus Democracy in Contemporary Europe, II
Sovereignty Across Generations
On militant democracy’s institutional conservatism
Carl Schmitt's Multifaceted Rejection of Political Compromises
Populism versus Democracy
What’s Wrong with Militant Democracy
Defending Democracy
Three Models of Democratic Self-Defence
Democratic equality and militant democracy
Militant Democracy and Fundamental Rights, II
Militant Democracy and Fundamental Rights, I
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |