Militant Democracy: friend or foe of democracy in Europe? Rethinking the century-old concept
The aim of the project is to attempt a redefinition of the century-old concept of “militant democracy”
(“a democracy capable of defending itself”) by considering both historical experience and contemporary challenges facing liberal democracy and liberal constitutionalism. The research team seeks to demonstrate how the instruments of “militant democracy” can and should be formulated and applied today, and how they ought to be adapted to the current political and social realities of European states.
The innovative character of the research lies in the attempt to propose new instruments of “militant democra- cy” that would complement or offer alternatives to its traditional means. The project aims to develop arguments for setting new boundaries for “militant democracy” and to introduce new potential defensive measures into legal and political science discourse. Another innovative element of the project is its inclusion of contemporary threats to liberal democracy that were unknown to the first theorists of “militant democracy.” This reflection is accompanied by an effort to reconcile the need for effective defensive mechanisms with the requirements stemming from international human rights protection standards.
>Source of funding: Narodowe Centrum Nauki (National Science Centre, Poland), SONATA BIS 13
Project website:
Team
DR HAB. ALEKSANDRA GLISZCZYŃSKA-GRABIAS
Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias, Professor at the Institute of Law Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Her research and expert work focuses on issues of comparative constitutional law, anti-discrimina- tion law, freedom of speech, and memory laws. She is co-editor and co-author of the books Constitutionalism under Stress (OUP, 2020) and The Politics of Memory Laws Russia, Ukraine and Beyond (OUP, 2025). She was a fellow at the universities of Cambridge, Yale, and the European University Institute. She has worked as an expert for the Council of Europe in programs related to anti-discrimination law. She co-leads interna- tional research projects, including ‘The Challenge of Populist Memory Politics for Europe: Towards Effective Responses to Militant Legislation on the Past’ (2021–2025). She has conducted research under grants awarded by, among others, the National Science Centre, the Rothschild Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at the Hebrew University, and the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University. From July 2024 to August 2025, she chaired the Expert Council to the Attorney General of Poland on Hate Crimes and Hate Speech. Since March 2025, she has been a delegate to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. She regularly participates in public discourse in Poland and internationally, speaking at public and academic events (including at NYU, Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and Georgetown universities) and commenting in the media on topics in which she specializes.
DR MICHALINA MARCIA
Michalina Marcia, postdoctoral researcher at the Poznań Human Rights Centre, Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (INP PAN), within the project “Militant Democracy: A Friend or Foe of Democracy in Europe? Rethinking a Century-Old Concept” (PI: Prof. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias). She holds a PhD in law from the University of Wrocław (2025), where she also finished her law studies (2020). Since 2021, she has been a part of the Digital Justice Center at the University of Wrocław. Her research interests include the impact of emerging technologies on human rights, AI, limits of state surveillance, the right to information, and defence rights. Author of publications and conference presentations in the fields of human rights, constitutional law and criminal procedure. She has carried out research within several national and international projects, including the European Commission–funded “2023-IT-NET4FEU – New European Tools for the Financial Interests of the EU” (PI: Serena Quattrocolo), and the NCN-funded project “The Right Not to Incriminate Oneself in the Digital Era” (2023/51/B/HS5/00283, PI: Wojciech Jasiński). She currently leads the NCN PRELUDIUM project “AI and Defence Rights – Friends or Foes?” (2024/53/N/HS5/01933).
MGR RAFAŁ STRONK
Rafał Stronk, graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at University of Warsaw, PhD candidate. He is the author of publications and conference presentations in the fields of civil procedure, constitutional law, and human rights. His research interests include the theory of civil procedure and its links to constitutional law, the influence of ideology on judicial application of law in civil cases, and the right of access to a court. He is or has been a scholarship holder in research projects funded by the Narodowe Centrum Nauki (Nation- al Science Centre, Poland): “Good Faith in Constitutional Law” (OPUS 20, 2020/39/B/HS5/02298, Principal Investigator: Dr. habil. Jan Podkowik), “The European Court of Human Rights and Violations of Judicial Independence in Illiberal Democracies” (SONATA 19, 2023/51/D/HS5/01117, Principal Investigator: Dr. Marcin Szwed) and “Militant Democracy: Friend or Foe of Democracy in Europe? Rethinking a Century-Old Concept” (SONATA BIS 13, 2023/50/E/HS5/00442, Principal Investigator: Dr. habil. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias).
Publications
Prof. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias has prepared a chapter for a scholarly publication that will be pub- lished in early 2026. The chapter Freedom of expression in populist democracies, will appear in the Cam- bridge Handbook of Freedom of Speech, edited by Charles Girard and Andrew Kenyon. The populist uses and abuses of freedom of speech and its limitation, to enhance and consolidate authoritarian populist rule, can be found in many Central and Eastern European states (CEE), with Poland and Hungary being, in recent years, telling examples of such tendencies. Significantly, in the post-communist countries, for which freedom of expression was one of the main slogans on the banners of the revolutions of 1989, a largely successful attack on this fundamental freedom was launched in a relatively simple way. A unified framework for analys- ing these states’ case studies are presented in this piece in opposition to another well-known framework for restrictions of freedom of expression in democracies, namely ‘militant democracy’.
As a scholarship holder in the project, Rafał Stronk prepared a policy paper entitled “The Story of a Certain Acceleration? Militant Democracy in Poland – A Case Study”. The paper consists of four parts. In the docu- ment, the author discusses the classical mechanisms of militant democracy embedded in the Polish constitu- tional order, provides a systematic account of their application by competent authorities (including the Consti- tutional Tribunal), outlines for foreign readers the dynamics of political change in Poland between 2015 and 2023, and presents examples of the titular “acceleration,” namely the popularization of the notion of “militant democracy” after 2023 and its use as a justification for establishing constitutional precedents aimed at limiting the consequences of legal violations committed by the previous government. In the conclusion, a relatively critical view regarding the restraint of state authorities in applying militant democracy mechanisms is expressed. The paper also puts forward proposals for action inspired by the concept of militant democracy in response to the rule-of-law violations committed between 2015 and 2023 and outlines the conditions for their effectiveness.
Conferences
On March 8, 2025, prof. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias debated Suzanne Nossel, former executive director of PEN America, an organization dedicated to defending freedom of speech, as part of the Janus Forum Presidential Debate at the University of Vermont. Nossel and Gliszczyńska-Grabias debated whether the more restrictive European/German approach to freedom of speech is better than the more liberal approach characteristic of American jurisprudence in the context of a struggling democracy.
On March 25, 2025, prof. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias participated in the international scientific confer- ence 4th Annual Law vs. Antisemitism Conference, which this year was held at UCLA. During the confer- ence, she presented a paper on legal references to antisemitism.
On October 16, 2025, Dr. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias participated in a conference entitled Human Rights Standards Derived from the European Convention on Human Rights and European Union Law as an Element of Legal Transactions in Poland: balance sheet and prospects – on the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Convention, presenting a paper entitled “Old” and “new” democracy fighting as one of Europe- an values and its judicial interpretations.
Seminars
On 31 October 2025, an open scientific seminar of the Project was held, during which Rafał Stronk, a project fellow, presented a policy paper entitled “The History of a Certain Acceleration? Militant Democracy in Poland”. The paper served as the basis for the presentation and subsequent discussion. The seminar was held online. The event was promoted on social media and on the website of the Poznań Human Rights Centre (Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences).
Research stays
In March 2025, prof. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias was on a research fellowship at the NYU Center for the Study of Antisemitism in New York, deepening her research on legal methods of counteracting antisemi- tism as means of militant democracy.
Miscellaneous
In August 2025, the weekly magazine “Polityka” published an interview with prof. Aleksandra Gliszczyńs- ka-Grabias on the wave of anti-democratic and xenophobic radicalization in Poland and possible methods of militant democracy that could counteract it. The interview was conducted by editor Martyna Bunda.
Over the past few months, a series of discussions and consultations have been held on the redefinition of the concept of militant democracy and on issues related to the implementation of the grant. Consultations were held with Prof. Sam Issacharoff (United States), Prof. Wojciech Sadurski (Poland and Australia), Prof. Angelika Nussberger (Germany, Venice Commission), and Prof. Yen-Tu Su (Taiwan). During these consulta- tions, it was possible to obtain the unique expert knowledge of these individuals on the subject of fighting democracy.
On August 22, 2025, prof. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias moderated an online high level discussion at the UN forum during the panel Defending Faith and Freedom: The Role of Human Rights Defenders in Promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief, organized as part of the International Day of Commemorating Victims of Acts of Religious Violence.
On June 16, 2025, prof. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias presented the draft of the Polish national strategy against antisemitism, with its strong links to the militant democracy doctrine, at the 7th meeting of the EU Commission Working Group on the Implementation of the EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life.
