Militant Democracy

Authors

  • Pedro Estevam Alves Pinto Serrano Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa
  • Bruno Nagli Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo
  • Eduardo Xavier Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Sao Paulo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.64537/ridp.v11i20.1189

Keywords:

Militant Democracy, Karl Löwenstein, Democratic Erosion, German Constitution, public funding

Abstract

This article revisits the concept of Militant Democracy, coined by the German-American jurist Karl Löwenstein in 1937, and which received constitutional status with the German Constitution (i.e., Basic Law, Grundgesetz) of 1949. Through an analysis of decisions by the German Constitutional Court, we provide an overview of its application from its creation to the recent 2024 decision prohibiting public funding for the Die Heimat party. Finally, we indicate two decisions by our Supreme Federal Court that dealt with analogous concepts and that demonstrate different understandings of the concept of Militant Democracy in Brazil.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Pedro Estevam Alves Pinto Serrano, Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa

Pós-Doutoramento em Teoria Geral do Direito pela Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa e em Direito Público pela Université Paris Nanterre. Mestre e Doutor em Direito pela PUC/SP

Bruno Nagli, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo

Mestre e Doutor em Direito pela PUC/SP.

Eduardo Xavier, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Sao Paulo

Mestrando em Direito pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Sao Paulo.

References

FERRAJOLI, Luigi. in Poderes Selvagens – A Crise da Democracia Italiana [Trad. Alexandre Araujo de Souza]. Saraiva. São Paulo. 2014

GREENBERG, Udi. in The Weimar Century. Princeton University Press. Princeton, NJ, US. 2014

KOMMERS, Donald P. and MILLER, Russel A. in The Constitutional Jurisprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany. 3rd edition revised and expanded. Duke University Press. Durham, US, 2012.

LOEWENSTEIN, Karl. in Militant Democracy and Fundamental Rights, I. in The American Political Science Law Review, vol. 31, n. 3, 1937.

MALKOPOULOU, Anthoula. in Militant Democracy and Its Critics. Ed. MALKOPOULOU, Anthoula and KIRSHNER, Alexander S. Edinburgh, UK. 2019.

NORD, Marina,et all. in Democracy Report 2025: 25 Years of Autocratization – Democracy Trumped? University of Gothenburg: V-Dem Institute. p. Disponível em https://www.v-dem.net/documents/61/v-dem-dr__2025_lowres_v2.pdf

PISTOR, Katharina. in The Case For Militant Democracy. Project Syndicate. Nova York. 2025. Disponível em https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/germany-afd-ban-constitutional-democracies-must-defend-against-subversion-by-katharina-pistor-2025-05?utm_source=Project+Syndicate+Newsletter&utm_campaign=dfcc69832a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_04_30_01_44_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-3ff15073ee-481879116

ROSENFIELD, Luís. in Revolução Conservadora: genealogia do constitucionalismo autoritário brasileiro (1930-1945). EDIPUCRS, Porto Alegre, 2021.

SERRANO, Pedro Estevam Alves Pinto. in Autoritarismos e Golpes na América Latina: breve ensaio sobre jurisdição e exceção. Ed. Alameda, São Paulo, 2016

STANLEY, Jason F. in How Facism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. Penguin Random House. New York, US. 2018

THIEL, Markus. in The Militant Democracy Principle in Modern Democracies. Ahsgate Publishing Limited. Farnham, England. 2009

Downloads

Published

08/31/2026

How to Cite

SERRANO, P. E. A. P.; NAGLI, B.; XAVIER, E. Militant Democracy. Revista Internacional de Direito Público - RIDP, Belo Horizonte: Fórum, v. 11, n. 20, p. 25–37, 2026. DOI: 10.64537/ridp.v11i20.1189. Disponível em: https://ridpdireito.com.br/index.php/ridp/article/view/1189. Acesso em: 2 sep. 2026.

Issue

Revista Internacional de Direito Público | RIDP 20 | jan.-jun. 2026

Section

Artigos

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Revista Internacional de Direito Público - RIDP

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.