Thank you for this important thread . @AnnaMeierPS! You make some essential points and we are huge fans of your work! Would disagree though with the framing of "anti-constitutional" as national identity. The German approach differs significantly from the US in this regard. https://twitter.com/AnnaMeierPS/status/1339682259956326401

The German concept of "militant democracy" is based on the notion of a positive democratic culture defined by the Constitutional Court as containing three core values: 1. The dignity of every human being. 2. The "democracy principle" (equal participation of all). 3. Rule of law.

This was established by the Constitutional Court in its second NPD ruling 2017. Naturally, there are also other perspectives (e.g. civil society). Hence, the concept of extremism by security agencies (also contested of course!) defines "anti-constitutional" ...

... as actively working against at least these three core values (dignity of all, equal participation, rule of law) with or without violence. This allows for seeing potential threats to the core of a democratic culture before violent crimes happen.

This also explicitly leaves out national identity in any way and allows for a public discourse about values and ideologies detached from violent crimes. A group could be monitored for example based on its active work to counter these democratic principles even without violence.

Of course many criticize this as labeling all opposition to a certain government or politics as extremism, meaning progressive and justified even radical reforms would be stigmatized. This is, however, not what the German concept is about.

If you believe in the fundamental inequality of human beings, deny everyone the same dignity, deny equal societal participation and object to the rule of law, then you could be seen as an extremist. This leaves endless room for advocating positive and even radical change.