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How Does Militant Democracy Function in Combating Right-Wing Extremism? A Case Study of Slovakian Militant Democracy and the Rise of Kotleba – People’s Party Our Slovakia

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Militant Democracy – Political Science, Law and Philosophy

Part of the book series: Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations ((PPCE,volume 7))

Abstract

This chapter examines how militant democracy functions in countering right-wing extremism. A case study of the Slovakian extreme-right party Kotleba’s – People’s Party Our Slovakia (L’SNS) is used to explain the difficulties in using militant democracy to confront right-wing extremism. First, the history of militant democracy combatting right-wing extremism is outlined, including Karl Loewenstein’s legacy of counter fascist measures from the interwar period. The situation in the Federal Republic of Germany is analysed and some critiques of political scientists and legal experts relating to militant democracy are discussed. Second, the author, building on this discussion, develops a conceptual framework for analysing the impact of militant democracy on right-wing extremism. He elaborates three scenarios that can play out after banning a political party or association: a positive “white scenario” (the elimination of right-wing extremism), a grey scenario (the rise of right-wing populism, instead of right-wing extremism) and two black scenarios (the recurrence of a party very similar to that which has been banned and the rise of new, effective organisational structures within the extreme-right scene). Third, to conclude, the author analyses the L’SNS and the countermeasures of Slovak militant democracy, a confrontation still in progress, against the backdrop of the three scenarios.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Loewenstein 1937a, b.

  2. 2.

    Klump 2001.

  3. 3.

    Backes and Eckhard 2005, p. 186–187.

  4. 4.

    Klamt 2012, p. 25.

  5. 5.

    Loewenstein 1937a, b.

  6. 6.

    Capoccia 2013, p. 210–219.

  7. 7.

    Loewenstein 1937b, p. 638.

  8. 8.

    Loewenstein 1937a, p. 423.

  9. 9.

    Bötticher and Mareš 2012, p. 298.

  10. 10.

    Loewenstein 1937b, p. 656.

  11. 11.

    Jesse 2006, p. 499–501.

  12. 12.

    Backes and Moreau 1994, p. 16–17.

  13. 13.

    Mohr and Rübner 2010.

  14. 14.

    Klamt 2012, p. 174.

  15. 15.

    Brinkmann 1983, p. 585–587.

  16. 16.

    Jesse 2006, p. 517.

  17. 17.

    Eatwell 2004, p. 4.

  18. 18.

    Thiel 2009.

  19. 19.

    Home Office, Rudd, Hon Amber, National Action becomes first extreme right-wing group to be banned in UK. Government. 2016.

  20. 20.

    Výborný 2012.

  21. 21.

    Canu 1997, p. 316–323; Klamt 2012, p. 408.

  22. 22.

    European Union , Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law 2008.

  23. 23.

    Klamt 2012, p. 444–446.

  24. 24.

    Nielsen 2016.

  25. 25.

    Pedazhur 2001, p. 352–353.

  26. 26.

    Kapusňák 2011, p. 68–69.

  27. 27.

    Eatwell 2004, p. 5.

  28. 28.

    Loewenstein 1937b.

  29. 29.

    Capoccia 2005, p. 47–67.

  30. 30.

    Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights 2008, p. 16.

  31. 31.

    Brems 2006, p. 141–148.

  32. 32.

    Bourne 2011, p. 20.

  33. 33.

    Bligh 2013, p. 1358.

  34. 34.

    Mareš 2012.

  35. 35.

    Havlík 2014.

  36. 36.

    Bourne 2011, p. 2.

  37. 37.

    Mudde 2016, p. 130–134.

  38. 38.

    Ibid p. 135.

  39. 39.

    Botsch et al. 2013.

  40. 40.

    Bailer 2013, p. 281–301.

  41. 41.

    Capoccia 2005, p. 75–81.

  42. 42.

    Casajus 2015.

  43. 43.

    Kluknavská and Smolík 2016.

  44. 44.

    Mikušovič 2007.

  45. 45.

    Ibid.

  46. 46.

    Najyvšší súd Slovenskej Republiky (Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic). 2006. Rozsudok 3Sž 79/2005.

  47. 47.

    Slovenská pospolitosť – Národná strana. 2005.

  48. 48.

    Najyvšší súd Slovenskej Republiky (Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic). 2009. Rozsudok 6Sr/1/2009.

  49. 49.

    Nociar 2012, p 6.

  50. 50.

    Kluknavská 2012, p. 9.

  51. 51.

    Tódová 2013.

  52. 52.

    Zelinka and Machovič 2010.

  53. 53.

    Najyvšší súd Slovenskej Republiky (Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic). 2013. Uznesenie 4 Tdo 49/2012.

  54. 54.

    Naxera and Krčál 2016, p. 35–36.

  55. 55.

    Šnídl 2016.

  56. 56.

    Břešťan 2016.

  57. 57.

    Motýl 2016.

  58. 58.

    Slovenská pospolitosť 2016.

  59. 59.

    Kotleba – Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko 2016.

  60. 60.

    SITA 2016.

  61. 61.

    Najvyšší súd Slovenskej Repibliky (Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic). 2016. Rozhodnutie 8 Sr/1/20 14.

  62. 62.

    Juriš 2016.

  63. 63.

    Geist 2017.

  64. 64.

    Kluknavská and Smolík 2016.

  65. 65.

    Brandstetter 2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Masaryk University (FSS MU), Brno, Czech Republic

    Miroslav Mareš

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  1. Miroslav Mareš
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Correspondence to Miroslav Mareš .

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  1. Department of Jurisprudence, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Afshin Ellian

  2. Department of Jurisprudence, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Bastiaan Rijpkema

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Mareš, M. (2018). How Does Militant Democracy Function in Combating Right-Wing Extremism? A Case Study of Slovakian Militant Democracy and the Rise of Kotleba – People’s Party Our Slovakia . In: Ellian, A., Rijpkema, B. (eds) Militant Democracy – Political Science, Law and Philosophy. Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97004-2_4

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