Defending Democracy: Reactions to extremist parties in interwar European democracies

How does a democracy deal with threats to its stability and continued existence when those threats come from political parties that play the democratic game? In Defending Democracy, political scientist Giovanni Capoccia studies key European nations between World Wars I and II which survived such democratic crises.A comprehensive and thoughtful historical analysis of the democracies of interwar Europe, Defending Democracy provides a unique perspective on the many lessons to be learned from their successes and failures. With this exclusively empirical investigative approach, Capoccia develops a methodology for analyzing contemporary democracies -- such as Algeria, Turkey, Israel, and others -- where similar political conditions are present. Given the rise of terrorism and the persistence of extremism in both established and new democracies today, continued research and dialogue on the defense of democracy are necessary for its preservation.--PART I: The Theoretical Framework --Democratic Stability and Democratic Crisis 3 --2 The Challenges: Antisystem Parties 27 --3 The Defense: Strategies against Extremism 47 --PART ii: Case Studies --4 Czechoslovakia --5 Belgium --6 Finland --PART III: Comparative Perspectives --7 Defense of Democracy: Actors and Strategies in Comparative --Perspective 179 --8 Conclusion 221 --Appendix A: Party Names and Translations 247 --Appendix B: Government Coalitions and Alignments in --Presidential Elections 249 --Appendix C: Anti-extremist Legislation in Czechoslovakia, --Finland, and Belgium 256Published version of EUI PhD thesis, 200