A Limping Militant Democracy

Abstract

In contrast to Germany, which has a broader protection system, “militant” antiextremism in Italy is articulated in two major areas: the criminalization of fascism apologia and the banning of political movements that refer to fascism. Moreover, in Italy, unlike Germany, banning formal parties (and not just political groups) is still a controversial issue although the Constitution, at least in theory, would admit its feasibility. There is no precedent. However, Italy is a noisy and vibrant democracy and there is no danger that fascism might appear just around the corner. Nevertheless, the real danger requires attentive supervision from public institutions and societies as a whole: that some extremist ideas, if tolerated beyond measure, may regain strength and legitimacy on the political stage, normalizing the abnormal and finally slowly jeopardizing the democratic debate.