Should Extremist Parties Be Banned?

Some political organizations, formal or informal, often seem bent on fomenting anger, attracting attentionby excluding citizens based on race, religion, gender or other characteristics rather than practicing good governance and solving problems. “Is there a place within liberal democracies for apparently anti-democratic parties?” asks Jan-Werner Mueller for Project Syndicate. He examines the Greek government’s restrictions on the far-right Golden Dawn, comparing the party to the rise of the Nazis in Germany, and questions if these limits are more detrimental for free speech and democracy than the extremist political activities. Mueller concludes that “democracies are damned if they ban and damned if they do not ban” but also offers some policy direction: set limits before dangerous parties emerge and do not target one point of view; outlaw the condoning of violence; and focus on civic education and accurate information that identifies the real source of problems that trouble large groups of citizens. Mueller concludes that anti-extremism should not resemble extremism. – YaleGlobal