De-presentation rights as a response to extremism

Malkopoulou, Anthoula

doi:10.1080/13698230.2016.1144856

Cited by 3 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Contemporary militant democrats--who cite Aristotle and Forsdyke's accounts of ostracism almost exclusively--have unsurprisingly latched on to the expulsion-centered view, seeing it as a source of inspiration for modern protective democratic measures [24][25][26][27]. In his Theory of Militant Democracy, for example, Alexander Kirshner briefly touches on ostracism, and understands it as the Athenians' "popular response" to threats by antidemocratic elites.…”

Section: The Expulsive View: Benjamin Constant To Militant Democratsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pruning of the People: Ostracism and the Transformation of the Political Space in Ancient Athens

Salamanca

2023

Philosophies

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Athenian ostracism has long captured democratic imaginations because it seems to present clear evidence of a people (demos) routinely asserting collective power over tyrannical elites. In recent times, ostracism has been particularly alluring to militant democrats, who see the institution as an ancient precursor to modern militant democratic mechanisms such as social media bans, impeachment measures, and lustration procedures, which serve to protect democratic constitutions from anti-democratic threats. Such a way of conceptualizing ostracism ultimately stems from Aristotle’s “rule of proportion,” or the removal of “outstanding” individuals in a polity who threaten to disturb the achievement of communal eudaimonia (Aris. Pol. 1284a). However, this way of interpreting the institution only presents a truncated view, one which is overly centered on the ultimate expulsion of an individual from the polity, rather than on its broader contextual telos—the transformation of the ostracized individual and of the community. To move past this simplified view, this paper considers all elements of ostracism with equal force, and argues that ostracism offered a shared opportunity and shared space for all members of the polis—citizens, non-citizens, and elite members alike—to reform the character of the subject individual and to instill and reaffirm democratic values in the community.

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Section: The Expulsive View: Benjamin Constant To Militant Democratsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pruning of the People: Ostracism and the Transformation of the Political Space in Ancient Athens

Salamanca

2023

Philosophies

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“…The result could be a reduction of political diversity and more convergence toward the center-a loss of some benefits of PR systems. Alternatively, one could see the recall in PR systems (and beyond) as a tool allowing for democratic self-defense against extremist parties or candidates (Malkopoulou, 2016). Yet being at one extreme of a political field does not necessarily mean being antidemocratic or harmful 20 .…”

Section: Would It Work In Pr Systems?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, this could help reducing the risks of instrumentalization of the recall to exclude from politics minority groups suffering from hostile prejudices, such as ethnic minorities. On this risk, see(Malkopoulou, 2016), pp. 314-315.Frontiers in Political Science | www.frontiersin.org…”

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Can the Recall Improve Electoral Representation?

Vandamme

2020

Front. Polit. Sci.

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Empirical studies reveal many citizens' unwillingness to get rid of representative democracy. A great number of them, however, distrust their representatives and would want representation to be improved, for example by giving citizens more control over their representatives. One possible mechanism of control is the recall-the possibility to remove elected representatives from office through a vote before the end of their term. Although this democratic tool is on the rise worldwide and was supported in the past by influential figures such as Rousseau and Marx, its study has been neglected by contemporary political theorists. The aim of this contribution is to identify the main arguments for and against the use of recall mechanisms, and to assess both their normative and empirical validity. In particular, it asks whether they have the capacity to improve the quality of representation or at least the perception of representative institutions' legitimacy, and answers with a moderate "yes"-especially for the latter aspect (perceived legitimacy).

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“…Nevertheless, Kelsenian and post-Kelsenian proceduralism have so far offered the only challenge to militant democracy in the contemporary debate on how to address the problem of extremism in democratic politics. It has inspired alternative tools to deal with extremists, such as the state’s duty to promote democratic values among civil society (Brettschneider, 2012; Niesen, 2002) or the mobilisation of citizens as defenders of constitutional values (Malkopoulou, 2016). Indeed, the role of democratic society, rather than the more narrowly construed constitutional questions that are conventionally preoccupying theorists of militant democracy, should be at the forefront of debates on democratic self-defence.…”

Section: Open Democracies: Liberal-procedural Self-defencementioning

confidence: 99%

Three Models of Democratic Self-Defence: Militant Democracy and Its Alternatives

Malkopoulou

Norman

2017

Political Studies

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Militant democracy relies on the idea that democracies ought to defend themselves from anti-democratic forces by constitutionalising repressive measures. We offer a criticism of this view by highlighting the exclusionary elitism on which militant democracy is built. In doing this, we consider two competing models of democratic self-defence: the procedural and the social. We suggest that the procedural model, while avoiding the exclusionary and other pitfalls of militant democracy, is detached from socio-political realities and fails to offer a comprehensive vision of democratic stability. The largely neglected social model of democratic self defence avoids this problem; it combines proceduralism’s commitment to dissensus with a social-democratic logic in the design of democratic constitutions. We argue in favour of such a social democratic self-defence and further develop this model around the guiding principle of political and social non-domination.

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De-presentation rights as a response to extremism

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

Pruning of the People: Ostracism and the Transformation of the Political Space in Ancient Athens

Pruning of the People: Ostracism and the Transformation of the Political Space in Ancient Athens

Can the Recall Improve Electoral Representation?

Three Models of Democratic Self-Defence: Militant Democracy and Its Alternatives

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