In the 1930s, as he watched fascism engulf Europe, German political theorist Karl Loewenstein, by then exiled in the United States at Amherst College, sounded a clarion call for what he dubbed “militant democracy.” He was not advocating violence, or even extremism. Rather, he argued that a fascist affront to democracy demanded more determined, nimble, and fearless approaches, unencumbered by rigid fealty to liberal constructs. Deploring “legalistic self-complacency and suicidal lethargy,” Loewenstein argued that a democracy fighting for its life against a fascist upsurge needed to assume a war footing, using everything in its power—including illiberal means, if necessary—to save itself.

American democracy is eating its own tail. We have elected a president whose administration is determined to thwart the Constitution, undermine the courts, and trammel basic rights. Though Americans are deeply proud of our system of government, we have scant experience protecting it from existential threat. Experts from the United States have for decades worked to birth and invigorate democracies around the world, but when it comes to healing ourselves, the medicine cabinet is spare. The available remedies are legal challenges, vague prospects for mass protests, and laying groundwork for elections that are still far off.

American democracy is eating its own tail. We have elected a president whose administration is determined to thwart the Constitution, undermine the courts, and trammel basic rights. Though Americans are deeply proud of our system of government, we have scant experience protecting it from existential threat. Experts from the United States have for decades worked to birth and invigorate democracies around the world, but when it comes to healing ourselves, the medicine cabinet is spare. The available remedies are legal challenges, vague prospects for mass protests, and laying groundwork for elections that are still far off.

In the 1930s, as he watched fascism engulf Europe, German political theorist Karl Loewenstein, by then exiled in the United States at Amherst College, sounded a clarion call for what he dubbed “militant democracy.” He was not advocating violence, or even extremism.