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Liberal democratic basic order

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The liberal democratic basic order (German: freiheitliche demokratische Grundordnung, informal abbreviation fdGO or FDGO) is a fundamental term in German constitutional law. It determines the unalienable, invariable core structure of the German commonwealth. As such, it is the core substance of the German constitution.[1] Building upon more general definitions of liberal democracy, the term has a specific legal meaning in Germany and is part of the German (originally West German) system of a Streitbare Demokratie ("fortified democracy") that bans attempts to dismantle the liberal democratic basic order by what German authorities refer to as "enemies of the Constitution" or "extremists".[1][2]

In practice, the concept has been used to target various far-right, far-left and other extremist groups. A historical example is the ideological struggle against Soviet-controlled East Germany ("GDR") during the Cold War, when West Germany's commitment to defending democracy was closely linked with its opposition to Soviet and East German authoritarian communism.[3]

Theoretically the concept is associated with anti-totalitarianism and with the scholarly field of democracy and extremism research in Germany.[4] While often relying upon scholars in this field, the classification of extremist organisations is ultimately an administrative decision made by the Federal Office ("BfV") or State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution ("LfV") respectively. Associations that threaten the liberal democratic basic order may be banned by the minister of the interior at federal or state level (decision subject to review by administrative courts). Anti-constitutional political parties may only be dissolved by the Federal Constitutional Court.[5]

Definition

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The FDGO touches on the political order and the societal and political values on which German liberal democracy rests. According to the Federal Constitutional Court, the free democratic order is defined thus:[6]

The free[a] democratic basic order can be defined as an order which excludes any form of tyranny or arbitrariness and represents a governmental system under a rule of law, based upon self-determination of the people as expressed by the will of the existing majority and upon freedom and equality. The fundamental principles of this order include at least: respect for the human rights given concrete form in the Basic Law, in particular for the right of a person to life and free development; popular sovereignty; separation of powers; responsibility of government; lawfulness of administration; independence of the judiciary; the multi-party principle; and equality of opportunities for all political parties.

— Federal Constitutional Court, Judgment of 23 October 1952 – 1 BvB 1/51[7]

People and groups that threaten the liberal democratic basic order are referred to as "enemies of the Constitution" or "extremist" in German government and legal language.[8] Parties as well as groups can be banned if they strive to abolish the FDGO. The willingness of a liberal democracy to ban parties that endanger liberal democracy itself has been termed "militant democracy", or "wehrhafte Demokratie" in German. While conceptually largely similar to broader definitions of liberal democracy, the liberal democratic basic order is distinguished by the measures that are allowed against "extreme" ideologies and groups to defend the order, such as the possibility to ban or officially monitor extremist groups.[9]

Opposition by political extremists

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According to the 2016 report of the federal office for constitutional protection, opposition to the order stems from both the far-right and far-left extremist spectrum. Far-left formations rally around anti-capitalism, anti-militarism, anti-racism and anti-fascism (Antifa) as far-left extremist activist fields, which are not compatible with and opposed to the FDGO. Far-right extremist groups also reject the democratic-constitutional state, rallying around the fields of the racist great replacement and other conspiracy ideologies, diffamation of the press, islamophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment.[10]

History

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The liberal democratic basic order has been a core concept in the constitutional law of the Federal Republic of Germany, originally West Germany, since 1949, and it played a significant role in the West German government's efforts to counteract communism during the Cold War.

The concept is closely linked to the state doctrine of anti-communism in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) during the Cold War.[11] In the early years of the republic, the extremist and anti-constitutional parties "Communist Party of Germany" (1956) and the "Socialist Reich Party" (1952) have been successfully banned. Instituted in 1972, the Anti-Radical Decree aimed at diminishing the influence of far-left radicalism.[8] The German Restitution Laws also contained a "communist exception" that specifically determined that "enemies of the liberal democratic basic order", in practice communists, were not entitled to compensation for earlier Nazi persecution.[12] Communist groups have been extensively monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the state offices for the protection of the constitution under the umbrella term of "far-left extremism"; during the Cold War the Federal Agency for Civic Education also focused in large part on Communists as enemies of the liberal democratic basic order, and the struggle against communism was framed by West German authorities primarily in terms of civic education and anti-extremism.[13]

With the fall of the Iron Curtain and the reunification of Germany, the federal republic had to deal with a changing extremist scene, and a revival of far-right extremism, especially in the newly acceeded eastern german states.[14] In 2003, as well as in 2017, attempts to ban the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) failed. In 2025, after election victories by the far-right extremist AfD party in eastern Germany, following resulting scandals in state parliaments[15] and leaks about large-scale ethno-nationalist deportation plans ("Remigration"), debates about banning the AfD were held in the Bundestag.[16][17] These petitions ultimately did not bring the needed majority, yet voices in politics in civil society and politics remained vocal, as the AfD continues to be popular in election polling for the 2025 federal election.[18]

See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^ The German original says "freiheitlich", not "frei". See also liberalism and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/freiheitlich.

Citations

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  1. ^ a b Thielbörger, Pierre. "Freiheitliche demokratische Grundordnung". bpb.de (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  2. ^ "Wehrhafte Demokratie". www.lpb-bw.de (in German). Archived from the original on 28 November 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  3. ^ Kocka, Jürgen, ed. (2010). Civil Society & Dictatorship in Modern German History. UPNE. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-58465-866-5. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  4. ^ Warg, Gunter (2017). "Nur der Kern des demokratischen Rechtsstaats – die Neujustierung der fdGO im NPD-Urteil vom 17.1.2017". Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht (NVwZ). 42 (2): 43 f.
  5. ^ deutschlandfunk.de (30 January 2025). "AfD-Verbot – Ist das realistisch? Pro und contra". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  6. ^ Aktuell, S. W. R. (30 January 2024). Freiheitlich-demokratische Grundordnung: Was ist das eigentlich? (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2025 – via www.swr.de.
  7. ^ Kommers 1980, p. 680.
  8. ^ a b Schönbohm, Wulf, ed. (1979). Verfassungsfeinde als Beamte?: Die Kontroverse um d. streitbare Demokratie (in German). Munich. ISBN 978-3-7892-7147-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ Bildung, Bundeszentrale für politische (20 March 2024). "Wie schafft das Grundgesetz eine „wehrhafte Demokratie"?". bpb.de (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  10. ^ "Verfassungsschutzbericht 2016" (PDF). Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany). Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  11. ^ Lora Wildenthal, The Language of Human Rights in West Germany, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012, ISBN 9780812244489
  12. ^ Spernol, Boris (2014). "Die 'Kommunistenklausel'". In Creuzberger, Stefan; Hoffmann, Dierk (eds.). "Geistige Gefahr" und "Immunisierung der Gesellschaft": Antikommunismus und politische Kultur in der frühen Bundesrepublik (in German). De Gruyter. pp. 251–274. doi:10.1524/9783486781045.
  13. ^ Gudrun Hentges: Staat und politische Bildung: Die Bundeszentrale für Heimatdienst bzw. Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung im Spannungsfeld zwischen Propaganda, Public Relations und politischer Bildung. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2012, ISBN 978-3-531-18670-2.
  14. ^ "Verfassungsschutz (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution)". Verfassungsschutz-mv.de. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  15. ^ tagesschau.de. "Nach Eklat im Thüringer Landtag: Rufe nach AfD-Verbotsverfahren". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  16. ^ "AfD-Verbot im Bundestag: Scharfe Warnungen und viel Skepsis". ZDFheute (in German). 30 January 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  17. ^ "AfD-Verbot: Bundestag debattiert über zwei Anträge". ZDFheute (in German). 30 January 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  18. ^ "Nach Migrationsdebatte: Bundesweite Demos gegen Rechtsextremismus". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2025.

Sources

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