Democratic Dilemmas: Why Democracies Ban Political Parties

ISBN-13: 9781138898011 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 280 str.

Dr Angela K. Bourne

Opis

This book examines how citizens, governments and courts in democratic states resolve dilemmas posed by anti-system parties or, more specifically, the question of why democracies ban political parties. On the one hand, party bans are purportedly designed to 'protect' democracies, usually from groups deemed to undermine the democratic system, challenge core democratic values, territorial integrity or state security. At the same time, democracies that ban parties - entities whose representatives are, at least in theory, elected to represent citizens in the political arena - simultaneously challenge their own foundational commitments to political pluralism, tolerance and rights to free speech and association. Through an examination of the various measures used to respond to such parties, this book probes the deliberative processes, discursive strategies and power politics employed when democratic communities negotiate inherent tensions in foundational commitments to tolerance and pluralism. With reference to empirical case studies of both contemporary and historical anti-system party bans in Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany, this book is the first attempt to examine in a systematic and comparative manner the question of why democracies ban parties and provides a political perspective in a literature largely dominated by law and political philosophy. This book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students in the areas of European Politics, Democracy Studies, Party Politics and Comparative Politics.

Spis treści

Introduction: Pluralism, Tolerance and the Proscription of Political Parties, Chapter 1: Theory and Research Design: From ‘militant democracy’ to security discourse, institutions and democratic competition, Chapter 2: Ban Regimes and banned parties in Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany, Chapter 3: Herri Batasuna and its successors: From ‘Terrorist Threat’ to Carrier of a ‘Copernican Shift’ from Violence, Chapter 4: Sinn Féin and Republican Clubs: From terrorist pariah to republicanism’s pathway out of violence, Chapter 5: The Socialist Reich Party and National Democratic Party of Germany: From ‘militant democracy’ to declining anti-system party threats, Chapter 6: Electoral Systems as an alternative to party bans, Chapter 7: Party bans and government formation, Conclusion

O autorze

Angela K. Bourne is an associate professor at the University of Roskilde, Denmark