Streitbare Demokratie


The wehrhafte or streitbare Demokratie is a term for German politics that implies that the government, the parliament and the judiciary are given extensive powers and duties to defend the liberal democratic basic order against those who want to abolish it. The idea behind the concept is the notion that even a majority rule of the people cannot be allowed to install a totalitarian or autocratic regime such as with the Enabling Act of 1933, thereby violating the principles of the German constitution, the Basic Law.

Features

Several articles of the German constitution allow a range of different measures to "defend the liberal democratic order".