ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the focus is set on a widely used militant democratic instrument, namely, the ban on right-wing extremist associations. The process-tracing method is employed to explain why the proscription of associations is used in liberal democracies. Four ban orders (two in France and two in Germany), which were issued between 2012 and 2014, are studied. Despite an apparently similar use of bans in France and Germany, there exist significant differences in the mobilisation of this policy instrument. The chapter shows that bans on right-wing extremist groups in Germany are the result of a collective process involving several policy-makers and that they are embedded in a coherent repressive policy. In France, bans are the result of political decisions initiated by the government and are used to ostracise extremist groups. In Germany, where responding to right-wing radicalism constitutes a policy matter, the proscription of extremist groups is more likely to be used as one of multiple measures, whereas countries where political radicalism is a matter of politics are likely to politicise bans and use them as part of a political struggle.
