Uwe Backes is Deputy Director at the Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarianism Studies and Professor of Political Science at the TUD (Dresden University of Technology). His research focuses on extremism, democracy, and autocratic rule.

Thomas Lindenberger is Director at the Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarianism Studies and Professor for Totalitarianism Research at the TUD (Dresden University of Technology). His research focuses on the comparative contemporary history of Germany and Europe and the history of communism and postcommunist transformation.

Introduction PART I: Historical forerunners 1. On the creation, destruction, and reformation of democratic protectionism: Human rights leagues in France and Germany 2. The Reichsbanner Black-Red-Gold - Militant democrats in the Weimar Republic 3. University in an emergency? Transnational networks of professors' counterprotest against the student movement of 1968 4. The Role of the Anti-Defamation League in combating extremism PART II: Country reports 5. Germany: Promoting democratic values - Political foundations as actors of civil democracy protection 6. Austria: "Protecting democracy" in the context of an established far-right Lager. Counterprotest against a far-right ball 7. Netherlands: Civil democracy protection and anti-extremist organisations 8. Belgium: Civil society and the protection of democracy: The case of Flanders 9. France: Civil society and the protection of democracy 10. England: Challenging the breeding ground for extremism and terrorism: Conservative governments' programmes to strengthen democracy since 2010 PART III: Comparative studies 11. Transnational cooperation between anti-extremist civil society organisations in Europe 12. Civil democracy protection in (East) Germany - perspectives from the field 13. Success conditions of civil democracy organisations to protect democracy

Civil Democracy Protection is an overview of attempts by organisations to oppose groups that are perceived to threaten democracy.