CDD International Research Showcase | The Logics of Democratic Self-Defence

Join the Centre for Deliberative Democracy for an International Research Showcase with Anthoula Malkopoulou, Associate Professor of Political Theory at Uppsala University.

Presentation title: The Logics of Democratic Self-Defence

Can democracy defend itself without betraying its own principles? When political actors challenge democratic institutions and norms, democracies face a fundamental dilemma: exclude them and risk undermining free and equal political participation, or tolerate them and risk their own erosion. But are exclusion and toleration the only options? Drawing on my new book Democratic Self-Defence, I challenge the conventional emphasis on militant democracy and develop a comparative framework encompassing three ideal types of democratic self-defence: militant, tolerant, and social. While militant approaches dominate theoretical debates, tolerant responses are often dismissed despite being more widely practised. Social approaches, which seek to counter antidemocratic politics by addressing the social injustices they exploit, remain relatively unexplored. The three ideal types rest on distinct normative principles and internal logics. They conceptualise democracy and antidemocratic threats differently, make special use of the law, and pursue their own strategies for defending democracy. By bringing these approaches into a common theoretical framework, the book reveals the plurality of ways in which democracies can defend themselves: from legal restrictions and party politics to grassroots mobilisation and social reform. Its aim is not to prescribe which type democracies should adopt, but to clarify the trade-offs underlying each, and to explore how they might be combined to navigate the tensions between protecting democratic institutions and upholding democratic values.

Date: Wednesday, 18 November 2026

Time: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm AEDT

Format: Hybrid

In person: The Fishbowl, University of Canberra

Online: Zoom link to be added

The session will include a 30-minute presentation followed by a 30-minute Q&A, chaired by Jordan McSwiney.

About Anthoula Malkopoulou

Anthoula Malkopoulou is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Government at Uppsala University. Previously a Fellow at Princeton University and the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies, her research focuses on how democracies respond to internal threats, as well as on democratic institutions more broadly. She is co-editor of Militant Democracy and Its Critics (2019) and Equal Representation (2016), and author of The History of Compulsory Voting in Europe (2015). In 2022, she received the York Political Theory Manuscript Workshop Award for her forthcoming book Democratic Self-Defence: Confronting Antidemocrats in Theory and Practice.

This is a public event hosted by the Centre for Deliberative Democracy, University of Canberra.