Democratic Backsliding and Academic Freedom I: A Macro-Perspective

Session Submission Type: Created Panel

Session Description

The past decade has been characterized by a notable decline in democratic freedoms around the world – not just in third wave democracies, but also in more established ones such as the United States of America. A new wave of populism, mostly on the far-right of the political spectrum, and a proliferation of far-right demagogues in positions of power, sometimes even as heads-of-state, has led to prominent attacks on established institutions of democracy, among them academic freedom.

The two IPSA-sponsored panels address this phenomenon of democratic backsliding and its consequences for academic freedom from a multiplicity of perspectives. The first one, Democratic Backsliding and Academic Freedom I, addresses the issue from a macro perspective, whereas the second panel, Democratic Backsliding and Academic Freedom II, look at different case studies, among them the United States, Hungary, Poland, Turkey, and Brazil.

Sub Unit

• Partner Associations / International Political Science Association

Individual Presentations

• Michael Ignatieff: The Geopolitics of Academic Freedom - Michael Ignatieff, Central European University

• Pippa Norris: Academic Freedom, Right to Expression and Democratic Backsliding - Pippa Norris, Harvard University

• Can Free Academia Withstand Autocratization? Why Some Universities Wither While Others Survive - Staffan I. Lindberg, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg; Lars Lott, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg

• Democratic Erosion and Academic Freedom in Hungary and Poland - Marianne R. Kneuer, TU Dresden; Ellen Bos Bos, Andrássy Universität Budapest

Chair

• Daniel Stockemer University of Ottawa

Discussant

• Annika M. Hinze Fordham University