Who Watches the Watchmen? Media Framing of Militant Democracy in Romania and Moldova

In recent years there has been growing interest in ideas of militant democracy, with examples in France, Germany and the Visegrad Group that have all received significant attention. But who decides when this is necessary, and does media coverage serve to provide legitimacy? Using a most-similar-systems design, this paper compares media coverage in Romania and Moldova, two culturally, geographically, and historically close states that differ in institutional balance and political climate. Focusing on two distinct cases: the bans of Georgescu and Șoșoacă in Romania; the bans of the Heart of Moldova Party and the ȘOR Party in Moldova, I analyse news articles from diverse outlets in each country to trace how the media frames these bans through three recurring storylines: rule-of-law duty, national security necessity, and authoritarian overreach. Coding is focused on two areas, namely tone and justification frame to answer a key question for the paper: how, and to what extent, are actions of militant democracy contested or reinforced by media coverage? The paper argues that media discourse in each country functions as a secondary arena of militant democracy: elite intentions are translated into narratives for public consumption, serving to consolidate or erode the legitimacy through coverage.