Apologies that the link is paywalled, but the LRB had an essay on just this issue. The German state maintains a specific intelligence service that investigates "threats to the constitution" - they can bring charges against political parties that can get them barred from public support (Germany gives political parties state funds based on their number of votes). The charges are heard before a constitutional court, and lead to a party being practically barred from participating in elections. Not totally, but in a state where private funding of political parties is a small percentage of party funds, it can be fatal.
Honestly not sure how I feel about it. It seems like the most obviously self-serving mechanism for mainstream parties to suppress challengers from the political fringe, but at the same time the court seems to be responsible and want hard evidence that the party under investigation is planning a coup against the government, as opposed to not being on side with the status quo.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n16/wolfgang-streeck/anti-constitutional
Apologies that the link is paywalled, but the LRB had an essay on just this issue. The German state maintains a specific intelligence service that investigates "threats to the constitution" - they can bring charges against political parties that can get them barred from public support (Germany gives political parties state funds based on their number of votes). The charges are heard before a constitutional court, and lead to a party being practically barred from participating in elections. Not totally, but in a state where private funding of political parties is a small percentage of party funds, it can be fatal.
Honestly not sure how I feel about it. It seems like the most obviously self-serving mechanism for mainstream parties to suppress challengers from the political fringe, but at the same time the court seems to be responsible and want hard evidence that the party under investigation is planning a coup against the government, as opposed to not being on side with the status quo.