Max Planck Lawcast
Max Planck Lawcast
Max Planck Law
Militant Democracy in Germany: Balancing Security and Freedom of Speech
44 minutes Posted Nov 12, 2025 at 10:00 am.
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Guests: Johanna Fink & Marc Bovermann (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law)
How can a democracy protect and safeguard its core values without inadvertently harming them and becoming an authoritarian state? This crucial legal and political question forms the starting point for this episode of the Lawcast.
Join Christopher Murphy as his guests—Marc Bovermann and Johanna Fink—discuss how Germany has adopted a so-called militant democracy to balance the right to free speech with the state's duty to safeguard its democratic foundations. 
Find out more:
https://law.mpg.de/lawcast/?id=136355