Militant Democracy and Fundamental Rights, II*

Karl Loewenstein

American Political Science Review, 1937, vol. 31, issue 4, 638-658

Abstract: Some Illustrations of Militant Democracy. Before a more systematic account of anti-fascist legislation in Europe is undertaken, recent developments in several countries may be reviewed as illustrating what militant democracy can achieve against subversive extremism when the will to survive is coupled with appropriate measures for combatting fascist techniques.1. Finland: From the start, the Finnish Republic was particularly exposed to radicalism both from left and right. The newly established state was wholly devoid of previous experience in self-government, shaken by violent nationalism, bordered by bolshevik Russia, yet within the orbit of German imperialism; no other country seemed more predestined to go fascist. Yet Finland staved off fascism as well as bolshevism. At first, the political situation was not unlike that of the Weimar Republic in the years of disintegration. The Communist party, declared illegal by the High Tribunal as early as 1925, reconstituted itself and, in 1929, obtained a large representation in the Riksdag, thereby blocking any constitutional reform. Under the decidedly extra-constitutional pressure of the nationalist and semi-fascist movement of the Lapuans, the Communists were so intimidated that nationalists, and progressives (bourgeois liberals), against the opposition of the social Democrats, were able to carry the constitutional reforms which not only strengthened the position of the government but also eventually barred subversive parties—meaning, at that time, the Communists—from national and communal representation.

Date: 1937
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/ ... type/journal_article link to article abstract page (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:31:y:1937:i:04:p:638-658_03

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in American Political Science Review from Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press, UPH, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8BS UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Kirk Stebbing ().