Academic Freedom and Democratic Backsliding in the Contemporary United States

• In Event: Democratic Backsliding and Academic Freedom II: Case Studies

Abstract

In this paper, I will canvass a variety of ongoing threats to academic freedom in the U.S. and will assess the degree to which courts are likely to serve as effective democratic guardrails in this context.

In a process that began before Donald Trump’s presidency, a number of U.S. states have witnessed the tilting of electoral rules by Republican Party elites seeking to entrench their hold on power. During and after Trump’s presidency, these anti-system actors entrenched their control of state power in certain states and have used this entrenched power to undermine democratic norms and institutions at the national level. A broad countermobilization has pushed back, leading GOP leaders to search for new and additional ways to undermine the pro-democracy opposition. Both public and private universities have been favored targets.

I will survey several key fronts in these ongoing conflicts, emphasizing state legislative efforts to curtail critical teaching and research regarding race, gender, and sexuality. I will then review the limited array of litigation to date seeking to shield teachers and scholars from such efforts. Drawing on the comparative literature on courts and democratic backsliding, I will assess the likely range of impacts of this ongoing legal mobilization.

In this paper, I will canvass a variety of ongoing threats to academic freedom in the U.S. and will assess the degree to which courts are likely to serve as effective democratic guardrails in this context.

Author

• Thomas M. Keck, Syracuse University