MILITANT DEMOCRACIES AND CHILLING EFFECTS: SHOULD THERE BE A CONCERN?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36517/nomosufc.v45e93722.2025Resumen
Democracy is seen by international law as the cornerstone of any modern nation. Not only the implementation but future maintenance of this form of government can be equally understood as being of the utmost importance. From this very assumption, doubts regarding the possible mechanisms that may be applied to protect such status quo arise. Is it justifiable to hinder rights such as freedom of speech or assembly, rights understood as inherently attached to democracy, as a way to defend it from anti-democratic acts? If yes, is it acceptable for a democracy to bear the constant chilling effect that arises from these forms of democratic protection? Does militancy provoke worrying chilling effects? This article, based on literature review and documentary analysis, aims to explore this defensive behavior of democracy, understood as militant democracies, and the potential side-effect of discouraging citizens' political participation due to the unpredictability of de facto situations in which specific expression is undue. The first step offers to examine the theoretical framework of academic study militant democracy. The second step consists of disclosing the chilling effect and its direct influence within democracies. Lastly, a general assessment regarding that militant behavior may be a catalyst for political rights inhibition is discussed. Considering that their actions are analogous to authoritarian governments, the article concludes that militant democracies tend to, theoretically, suppress political participation from citizens allocated at the opposite spectrum of the incumbent power holders. However, reasons for this may not be mostly due to institutional provisions such as law and statutes, but from actual social dynamics and behaviors which, although linked to the law status quo, may be secondary a power play.
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Derechos de autor 2025 Enrico Lentini Gibotti, Lucas Catib de Laurentiis, Carlo José Napolitano

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