An umbrella model for the protection of democracy in Europe? The role and interaction of judicial, political and civic actors in upholding democratic

在最近自由民主危机的背景下，我的博士研究重点是超国家法院之间的相互作用，以及它们与政治机构和民间社会组织的相互作用。具体来说，我的论文分析了欧盟法院和欧洲人权法院之间的合作，以及它们与政治行动者（如欧洲委员会和威尼斯委员会）以及与选定的民间社会组织的相互作用：（如何）这种相互作用有助于保护民主？这些行动者在超国家层面上促进和维护了什么民主概念？在超国家层面上，什么构成了“成功捍卫民主”？在第一部分中，我的论文旨在梳理和系统化相关行为体之间的程序、实体、规范和理论互动。在此基础上，我的论文的第二部分将从法律和理论的角度批判性地分析这些相互作用。第三部分将考察超国家军事民主的制度和理论局限性。本研究的目标是制定一种“从上”（通过法律）和“从下”（通过公民社会）捍卫民主的策略。这意味着为每个参与者共同工作并尽可能充分利用其协同效应确定条件。然而，这也意味着要理解所谓的“跨国军事民主”旨在保护什么样的民主概念，以及这种跨国保护伞模式对民族国家构成了什么样的挑战。

Against the background of the recent crisis of liberal democracy, my doctoral research focuses on the interaction of supranational courts with each other as well as their interplay with political institutions and civil society organizations. Specifically, my thesis analyses the cooperation between the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights and their interplay with political actors, such as the European Commission and the Venice Commission, as well as with selected civil society organizations: (How) does this interaction contribute to the protection of democracy? What conception of democracy is promoted and upheld by these actors on the supranational level? What constitutes "a successful defence of democracy" on the supranational level?In a first part, my thesis aims to carve out and systemize the procedural, substantial, normative and theoretical interactions between the relevant actors. On this basis, the second part of my thesis will critically analyse these interactions from a legal and theoretical perspective. The third part will examine the systemic and theoretical limitations of a supranational militant democracy. The goal of this research is to map out a strategy for defending democracy 'from above' (through law) and 'from below' (through civil society). This implies defining conditions for each actor to work together and of making the best possible use of their synergy effects. However, this also means to gain an understanding of what conception of democracy a so-called "transnational militant democracy" aims to protect and what challenges such a transnational umbrella model poses to the nation state.