"To Stop an Anti-Democrat: Militant Democracy at Home and Abroad" by Ahmed Elbasyouny

This talk interrogates the global journey of militant democracy as a constitutional strategy to confront anti-democratic actors. Originating in interwar Europe as a response to the self-destruction of democracies by authoritarian parties, militant democracy legitimizes measures that restrict political participation of those who seek to dismantle democratic order from within. As this doctrine travels beyond its European cradle, it encounters new contexts and contradictions. In this talk, I trace the development of militant democracy, its normative justifications, persistent challenges, and its application in selected constitutional systems — all briefly mapped to set the stage. I then argue that, despite its ambitions, militant democracy has so far failed to fully capture the scale and versatility of the “democratic danger” it seeks to contain.