Uwe Backes - Böcker

The Western tradition of the constitutional state, with its ancient roots, defines political extremes as the epitome of that what must be absolutely rejected. It highlights tyranny, despotism, despotic rule, non-autonomy, ruthless enforcing of interests as ‘extreme’, contrasting this to a virtuous mean which guarantees moderation. In this volume, the culmination of twenty years of extensive research, Uwe Backes provides a conceptual history of the notions "extreme" and "extremism" from antiquity to the present day. The terminological history of political extremes had been related for more then two millennia with the term mesotês used in the Aristotelian ethics and the theory of mixed constitution. Both doctrines influenced the republicanism of the North Italian city states and later the United States of America as well as British parliamentarism. The positions of moderation and extremes were not joined until the course of the French Revolution with the distinction of right- and left-wing, and this is how it still exists today in the intellectual-political geography. This unique source based study reconstructs these developments from ancient times to the present.Tracing the history of the concept of political extremism from Ancient Greece to the present day, this is an invaluable resource for scholars of democracy, extremism and political sociology.

The Western tradition of the constitutional state, with its ancient roots, defines political extremes as the epitome of that what must be absolutely rejected. It highlights tyranny, despotism, despotic rule, non-autonomy, ruthless enforcing of interests as ‘extreme’, contrasting this to a virtuous mean which guarantees moderation. In this volume, the culmination of twenty years of extensive research, Uwe Backes provides a conceptual history of the notions "extreme" and "extremism" from antiquity to the present day. The terminological history of political extremes had been related for more then two millennia with the term mesotês used in the Aristotelian ethics and the theory of mixed constitution. Both doctrines influenced the republicanism of the North Italian city states and later the United States of America as well as British parliamentarism. The positions of moderation and extremes were not joined until the course of the French Revolution with the distinction of right- and left-wing, and this is how it still exists today in the intellectual-political geography. This unique source based study reconstructs these developments from ancient times to the present.Tracing the history of the concept of political extremism from Ancient Greece to the present day, this is an invaluable resource for scholars of democracy, extremism and political sociology.

Ideocracies, or ideological dictatorships, such as the "Third Reich", the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China have, much more than any other kinds of autocracy, characterized the history of the 20th century. Despite their undeniable loss of significance, ideocracies have not disappeared from the world in the 21st century. This book explores the functioning of ideocracies and analyses the typical interplay of legitimation, co-optation and repression which autocratic elites use in an attempt to stabilize their rule. In the first part of the book, the contributors discuss the conceptual history of the ideocracy notion. The second part offers case studies pertaining to the Soviet State, Italy, the National Socialist Regime, the German Democratic Republic, the People’s Republic of China, North Korea and Cuba. Finally, the third part compares various ideocracies and draws together key themes. Uniting the perspectives of history, philosophy and political science through the use of case studies and systematic comparisons, this book offers a unique examination of ideocracies both past and present which will be of interest to students and scholars researching political regimes, political history and comparative politics, as well as other disciplines.

Civil Democracy Protection is an overview of attempts by organisations to oppose groups that are perceived to threaten democracy.The book traces the history of civil democracy protection actors from the establishment of democratic constitutional states up to the present day and develops a set of systematic and comparative approaches. The central question it explores is: What significance do civil actors have for the establishment and consolidation of democratic constitutional states, especially in relation to the protection of democracy by state institutions? The volume includes contributions from historians and social scientists, who combine idiographic approaches that focus on the specifics of individual cases with nomothetic approaches that aim to provide generalisable insights, incorporating historical experiences from various European countries and the USA in the 20th and early 21st century.This book will be of interest to scholars of democracy protection, civil society, consolidation of democracy, and anti- extremism.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 International license.

Civil Democracy Protection is an overview of attempts by organisations to oppose groups that are perceived to threaten democracy.The book traces the history of civil democracy protection actors from the establishment of democratic constitutional states up to the present day and develops a set of systematic and comparative approaches. The central question it explores is: What significance do civil actors have for the establishment and consolidation of democratic constitutional states, especially in relation to the protection of democracy by state institutions? The volume includes contributions from historians and social scientists, who combine idiographic approaches that focus on the specifics of individual cases with nomothetic approaches that aim to provide generalisable insights, incorporating historical experiences from various European countries and the USA in the 20th and early 21st century.This book will be of interest to scholars of democracy protection, civil society, consolidation of democracy, and anti- extremism.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 International license.

Ideocracies, or ideological dictatorships, such as the "Third Reich", the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China have, much more than any other kinds of autocracy, characterized the history of the 20th century. Despite their undeniable loss of significance, ideocracies have not disappeared from the world in the 21st century. This book explores the functioning of ideocracies and analyses the typical interplay of legitimation, co-optation and repression which autocratic elites use in an attempt to stabilize their rule. In the first part of the book, the contributors discuss the conceptual history of the ideocracy notion. The second part offers case studies pertaining to the Soviet State, Italy, the National Socialist Regime, the German Democratic Republic, the People’s Republic of China, North Korea and Cuba. Finally, the third part compares various ideocracies and draws together key themes. Uniting the perspectives of history, philosophy and political science through the use of case studies and systematic comparisons, this book offers a unique examination of ideocracies both past and present which will be of interest to students and scholars researching political regimes, political history and comparative politics, as well as other disciplines.

How can the mobilizing power of the "right-wing populist" parties represented in the European Parliament be explained and how can they be effectively countered? This study aims to contribute to this by analyzing the ideological-programmatic aspects of these parties. The most popular among them provide "modernization services" that distinguish them from the old extreme right. They propagate anti-anti-Semitism, reject biological racism and orientate themselves on the model of a coexistence of separated ethno-cultural communities.

Wer erfahren will, wie die DDR ein halbes Jahrzehnt nach ihrer Gründung von einem deutsch-amerikanischen Team ausgezeichneter Kenner auf mehr als 600 Seiten analysiert und eingeordnet wurde, wird dafür kaum eine bessere Quelle finden als dieses nur als gebundener Manuskriptdruck erschienene (1956), weitgehend vergessene und kaum rezipierte Werk. Es erscheint in der Reihe „Wege der Totalitarismusforschung“ des Hannah-Arendt-Instituts, weil es in unmittelbarem Zusammenhang zur Ausarbeitung der meistdiskutierten Totalitarismuskonzeption unter der Ägide des Politikwissenschaftlers Carl J. Friedrich an der Harvard University entstand. Einer seiner engsten Mitarbeiter und Koautoren war der spätere US-Außenminister Henry Kissinger. Die Liste der Autoren und Berater (u.a. Gerhard Abeken, Fritz Baade, Erich Matthias, Carl Mayer, Heinrich Rittershausen, Otto Stammer, Carola Stern, Karl C. Thalheim, Siegfried Unseld) liest sich wie ein Who’s Who der frühen DDR-Forschung.

The authors of the volume deal with the precipitation of political ideologies in the discourses, visions, programs and propaganda efforts of extremist organizations. The contributors differentiate between the characteristic differences and similarities between right and left extremisms, but also use political-religious fundamentalism as an object of comparison. Despite a plurality of perspectives, all authors have one definition of extremism in common, which is derived from the negation of democracy. In this way, "soft" forms of extremism come into focus, which have similarities with "hard" extremism without fulfilling all of its characteristics.

The focus of the volume is on the negative factors for the establishment and consolidation of democratic constitutional states resulting from previous autocratic regimes with totalitarian features. The fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the one-party regimes in Central and Eastern Europe favored democratic developments in many countries. But they went different ways, and some of them abandoned the path of democratic transformation that had been taken initially after a short time. The great differences in the eastern transformations raise the question of why, at first glance, very similar starting conditions led to very different results. What role did the totalitarian hereditary burden of "actually existing socialism" play in this?

Am Beispiel der Sowjetunion, Polens, der Tschechoslowakei, Ungarns, Rumäniens, Bulgariens, der DDR sowie der Sonderfälle Jugoslawien und Albanien analysieren die Autoren des Bandes drei Forschungsfelder, die für Bestand und Stabilität der staatssozialistischen Systeme von zentraler Bedeutung waren: die Staatsparteien als monopolistische Herrschaftsträger, die Sozialpolitik als wichtigstes Medium der Herrschaftslegitimation und die Rolle von Opposition und Widerstand infolge des Scheiterns autokratischer Regimelegitimierung.

I. Untersuchungsgegenstand und Problematik "Indessen ist zu erkennen, daß trotz des reichlich hervorgebrachten Schrifttums zum Thema Extremismus elementare Aufgaben, deren Lösung eigentlich zu den allerer­ sten Schritten bei der wissenschaftlichen Bearbeitung des Gebietes hätten gehören 1 müssen, noch nicht gelöst waren." Diese Klage der Meinungsforscher Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann und Erp Ring, 1984 im Rahmen einer Untersuchung zum ,,Extremismus-Potential unter jungen Leuten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland" vorgetragen, hat ihre volle Berechtigung. Sie betrifft die herrschende Unklameit und Verunsicherung im Hinblick auf jene theoretischen Grundlagen, die der empirischen Untersuchung dringend bedürfen, sollen sie nicht im "luftleeren Raum" operieren. Der höchst unbefriedigende Kenntnisstand wird durch nichts augenfälliger doku­ mentiert als durch die verwirrende Vielfalt der Extremismusbegriffe: Handelt es sich um einen heuristisch wertlosen Terminus aus dem Arsenal politischer 2 "Kampfbegriffe" , oder taugt er auch zur wissenschaftlichen Analyse? Ist er Ausfluß 3 juristischer Dogmatik , oder eignet er sich als terminologisches Werkzeug des Sozi­ alforschers? Lassen sich "linke" und "rechte" Phänomene unter dieser Sammelbe­ zeichnung sinnvoll zusammenfassen, oder verläuft die "eigentliche" Grenze zwi­ 4 schen "antidemokratischen" und "antikapitalistischen" Positionen? Wohnt dem Be­ griff ,Jediglich eine fallzentrierte, wertungsabhängige Strukturfestigkeit"5 inne, oder besitzt er eine Bedeutung, die die Grenzen politischer Räume und Epochen über­ schreitet? - Fragen, die einer zusammenhängenden Beantwortung harren.