Hermann Heller and the Social Approach to Democratic Defense

• In Event: Democracy and the Rule of Law: Lessons from the Weimar Republic

Abstract

This paper explores the relevance of the Weimar jurist Hermann Heller in uncovering a social understanding of why democracies can be challenged by autocratic forces, and what they need to do to counter them. Writing in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Heller astutely pointed out that fascism/Nazism and the democratic breakdown that followed were precipitated by a deep economic crisis and the experience of social injustice. Therefore, he argued, the defense of democracy should include structural socio-economic reforms. The goal should not be formal equality or mere equality of opportunity, but effective social integration and the elimination of gross inequalities. These would inspire a commitment to democracy among the population at large. Heller introduces an ideal type of democratic defense through social reform that has been echoed by contemporary political theorists, though without direct reference to Heller and with very different emphases. Some stress the civic-nationalist aspect (Mounk), others the existential-security aspect (Näsström), others the statist aspect (Gerbaudo), and still others the populist aspect (Mouffe). Despite their profound differences, however, they all share the basic idea that both the cause and the solution to autocratic tendencies lie in social change.

Author

• Anthoula Malkopoulou, Uppsala University