Read more
This book examines contemporary militant democracies in post-communist states in the European Union.
Examining, through case studies, their broader relevance to political, legal, and social structures, this book looks in revealing detail at the struggles between these democratic and anti-democratic actors that share similar historical experiences of contentious politics, communism, and political transformation. It importantly unravels the tension between them, determining which are already authoritarian, and which are teetering on the brink of an anti-democratic breakthrough. Analysing regimes' continuance trajectories to capture how and what shaped the neo-militant aspects of democracies (neomilitancy) over time, the book accounts for why particular post-communist European neo-militant democracies emerge while others decline or transform into quasi-militant democracies despite transformation, how they differ from each other, what brings about the differences and similarities between them, and how and why they change over time. With right-wing populist parties coming to power on the back of fears associated with economic, social, and cultural globalisation and the misuse of state authorities to strengthen protective measures against threats to democratic institutions, the book represents a timely and important contribution.
This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of Post-Soviet/Communist/East European Studies, Democratic Backsliding, European and Comparative Politics, Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict, Democracy and Dictatorship, Public Comparative Constitutional Law, Human Rights Law and Political Theory.
List of contents
INTRODUCTION 1. Theorising Struggles Between Neo-militant Democracies and Their Enemies PART 1: Neo-militant Democracies Under Russian Pressure 2. Estonia: From Neo-militant Towards Quasi-militant Democracy? 3. Latvia's Soft Neo-militancy: Limiting Russia's Influence 4. Lithuania: Between Liberal Democracy and Weak Neo-militant Democracy PART 2: Triumphs of Quasi-militant Democracy 5. Poland: Drift Towards Quasi-militant Democracy in Defiance of Resistance 6. Hungary: An Abusive Neo-militant Democracy 7. Quasi-militant Democracy in Romania: Limiting Contention by Legal Means 8. Bulgaria: Corruption- and Oligarchy-driven Drift Towards Quasi-militant Democracy PART 3: Balancing Between Neo- and Quasi-militant Democracy 9. Czech Republic: Towards Quasi-militant Democracy? 10. Militarisation of Democracy in Slovakia 11. Slovenia's Crisis-driven Path from Neo- to Quasi-militant Democracy CONCLUSIONS 12. Neo-militant Democracies Under Siege in Post-Communist Europe: Constitutional Law Perspective 13. Victories and Defeats of Quasi-militant Democracies in Post-Communist Europe: Comparative Politics Perspective
About the author
Joanna Rak is Associate Professor of Political Sciences at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan´ , Poland.
Roman Bäcker is Professor of Political Sciences at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun´ , Poland.
Summary
This book examines contemporary militant democracies in post-communist states in the European Union.
