Militant democracy and constitutional identity

The chapter deals with novel uses of militant democracy. Traditionally, the latter was about banning political parties that posed a danger to democracy and, more broadly speaking, restricting individual rights in the name of defending democracy. More recently, militant democracy has been deployed with regard to religious practices, often invoking contentious notions of constitutional identity (often tied to particular notions of secularism). The chapter also analyzes the uses of constitutional identity in populist strategies, including projects to fashion new constitutions. Finally, it looks at attempts to counter populist-authoritarian governments by supranational actors, such as the EU; the question is posed whether Member States of the EU can legitimately invoke constitutional identity as an argument to shield themselves from such measures.