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Ineffective means of militant democracy as factors in creating and consolidating dysfunctional democracies: evidence from the experience of post-communist statesIneffektive Mittel militanter Demokratie als Faktoren bei der Schaffung und Konsolidierung dysfunktionaler Demokratien: Belege aus der Erfahrung postkommunistischer Staaten

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Maciej Skrzypek at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Maciej Skrzypek
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In my comparative study, which draws on qualitative analysis of sources, I use militant democracy as a theoretical category. A militant democracy is understood as a form of the democratic system’s ability to eliminate undemocratic forces. Using it allowed me to address the research question why, despite adopting militant democracy measures in post-communist democracies in Central Eastern Europe (CEE), dysfunctional democracies emerge in this region. (1) What are the characteristics of dysfunctional democracies in analyzed states? (2) What decided about the ineffectiveness of selected instruments of militant democracy? (3) What was the impact of political regime’s dysfunction on using militant democracy means in practice? The study encompasses the period from 2008, when the economic crisis broke out. In the aftermath of the economic crisis, populist rhetoric, which openly challenged the principles of liberal democracy, also increased. The closing caesura is 2019, the moment before the outbreak of the Corona Crisis, which was a new, unique challenge for democratic systems.
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AUFSÄTZE
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12286-022-00533-9
Z Vgl Polit Wiss (2022) 16:247–264
Ineffective means of militant democracy as factors in
creating and consolidating dysfunctional democracies:
evidence from the experience of post-communist states
Maciej Skrzypek
Received: 6 July 2021 / Revised: 17 June 2022 / Accepted: 20 June 2022 / Published online: 15 July 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, ein Teil von
Springer Nature 2022
Abstract In my comparative study, which draws on qualitative analysis of sources,
I use militant democracy as a theoretical category. A militant democracy is under-
stood as a form of the democratic system’s ability to eliminate undemocratic forces.
Using it allowed me to address the research question why, despite adopting mili-
tant democracy measures in post-communist democracies in Central Eastern Europe
(CEE), dysfunctional democracies emerge in this region. (1) What are the charac-
teristics of dysfunctional democracies in analyzed states? (2) What decided about
the ineffectiveness of selected instruments of militant democracy? (3) What was
the impact of political regime’s dysfunction on using militant democracy means in
practice? The study encompasses the period from 2008, when the economic crisis
broke out. In the aftermath of the economic crisis, populist rhetoric, which openly
challenged the principles of liberal democracy, also increased. The closing caesura
is 2019, the moment before the outbreak of the Corona Crisis, which was a new,
unique challenge for democratic systems.
Keywords Dysfunctional democracy · Militant democracy · Quasi-militant
democracy · Erosion of democracy in CEE
This research paper is a result of the research project Contentious Politics and Neo-Militant
Democracy. It was financially supported by the National Science Centre, Poland [grant number
2018/31/B/HS5/01410].
Maciej Skrzypek ()
Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Pozna ´
n, Poland
E-Mail: maciej.skrzypek@amu.edu.pl
K
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