 Hook’s formulation of the issue of the limits of freedom in a democracy could be traced back to his sensitivity to his observation of the rise of Nazism in Germany during his residency in that country in the late 1920s. The anti-Nazi neo-Kantian philosopher, Leonard Nelson, had pointed out at that time that totalitarian movements, particularly the National Workers Socialist movement, confronted democracy with a potentially fatal dilemma: if the democratic system were to outlaw or prohibit the National Workers Socialist Party from participation in political elections, it would be taking a significant step toward the destruction of democracy by excluding a party which had a mass following. If the democratic system were to fail to outlaw or prohibit the National Workers Socialist Party from participation in national electoral politics, however, it would be taking a potentially even more significant step toward the destruction of democracy. A single electoral victory of the National Workers Socialist Party, no matter by how small a margin, would result in the abolition of other political freedoms or in the termination of subsequent elections, as in the standard refrain of democracies that have committed suicide: “one person, one vote – one election.” Thus, Nelson’s dilemma recognized a possibly fatal flaw in democracy once a significant pro-totalitarian or anti-democratic party had achieved a degree of popular support.