Higher Education and Democratic Resilience
Introducing a new Research Programme focussed on academic freedom and the resilience of higher education against authoritarian threats.
The Higher Education and Democratic Resilience Programme: combining interdisciplinary research, global monitoring, public and policy engagement to safeguard independent higher education and intellectual freedom. Together with Oxford’s Centre for Democratic Resilience, Bucerius Law School and Verfassungsblog.
Verfassungsblog delivers an agile, real-time analysis of emerging threats to academic freedom through expert commentary and transnational symposia. All contributions are collected in the Spotlight.
Programme Overview
Academic freedom is a cornerstone of democratic societies. Higher education institutions generate independent knowledge, drive innovation, nurture critical thinking, and provide the evidence and expertise that inform policy making and public debate.
As democratic backsliding accelerates globally, universities are increasingly facing political pressure and interference. Protecting academic freedom and institutional autonomy now requires a systematic effort to monitor emerging threats, robust analysis of vulnerabilities, and practical strategies to strengthen resilience across the sector.
What is it?
The Higher Education and Democratic Resilience Programme combines world-leading research, global monitoring, and strategic engagement to help democratic societies defend one of their most important institutions: independent higher education.
The programme is a major international research and engagement programme of the Centre for Democratic Resilience at the University of Oxford, Bucerius Law School, and Verfassungsblog. We have joined forces in a unique international partnership that combines leading expertise in democratic resilience, legal scholarship, and public engagement.
Together, we will conduct pioneering research to stress test academic freedom and university autonomy in Germany, monitor global developments affecting higher education, and work with universities and policymakers to develop practical strategies for strengthening institutional resilience.
What will it do?
This unique international partnership combines leading expertise in democratic resilience, legal scholarship, and public engagement. Bringing together interdisciplinary excellence in political science and law it will deliver pioneering research on threats to academic freedom and university autonomy in Germany and beyond. We will identify and analyse global developments affecting higher education around the world and thus create an understanding among academics, policymakers, civil society, and the public how to best respond to these risks.
The programme will:
- Conduct pioneering interdisciplinary research on threats to academic freedom and university autonomy, with an initial focus on Germany.
- Monitor global developments affecting higher education and track emerging risks to institutional independence.
- Identify how and why universities become vulnerable to authoritarian influence and democratic erosion.
- Develop evidence-based frameworks and early warning indicators to help institutions recognise and respond to threats.
- Produce practical recommendations and resilience-building tools for universities, policymakers, and civil society.
- Foster informed public debate on the role of higher education in democratic societies through strategic engagement and knowledge exchange.
Why is it important, and why now?
The Academic Freedom Index (2026) shows that over the last decade, academic freedom has declined in 50 countries and improved only in nine. Around the world, higher education institutions are increasingly exposed to political and authoritarian pressures. Understanding these vulnerabilities, and protecting the sector from democratic erosion, is essential for safeguarding democratic institutions.
At a time when academic freedom faces growing pressure worldwide, the programme will build knowledge and capabilities to protect the independence of higher education institutions and their capacity to fulfil their essential democratic mission.
The Role of Verfassungsblog
When democracies backslide, higher education is usually a central target – precisely because critical thinking and evidence-based knowledge are fundamentally at odds with populist authoritarian rule.
Verfassungsblog delivers an agile, real-time analysis of emerging threats to academic freedom through expert commentary and transnational symposia. It thereby fosters resilience through a shared epistemic understanding of threats to higher education integrity among academics, policymakers, civil society, and the public. All contributions are collected in the Spotlight “Higher Education and Democratic Resilience” on Verfassungsblog.
Events
Partner Quotations
“Universities play a critical role in sustaining democratic societies, yet across the world we are seeing increasing pressure on academic independence. This programme provides the evidence, tools and partnerships needed to anticipate threats and strengthen institutional resilience.”
“Academic freedom is defended not only through litigation and legislation, but also by resilient universities and leadership that sees threats coming. We will systematically map where German higher education law is vulnerable to undue political interference – and work directly with university leaders and policymakers to turn that knowledge into practical defences. In this programme, research and knowledge exchange are not consecutive stages: we have designed them together from day one.”
“Attacks on academic freedom hit legal and political scholarship directly. Yet these are also the fields best equipped to anticipate such attacks and to resist them. With this project, we set out to mobilise that expertise, so that the disciplines under attack become part of the defence.”
A unique international partnership
The programme brings together three organisations with distinct and complementary strengths:
DPIR’s Centre for Democratic Resilience at the University of Oxford, a leading centre for research on democratic resilience and democratic backsliding.
Bucerius Law School, one of Europe’s leading centres for legal scholarship and constitutional analysis.
Verfassungsblog, a widely respected platform connecting academic expertise with public and policy debate.
Together, the partners will create a unique platform that combines academic excellence, legal expertise, and public engagement to address one of the most pressing challenges facing democratic societies today.
Team at Verfassungsblog
Want to get in touch with the project team? Contact us.
Maximilian Steinbeis
Project Lead
Photo: Maurice Weiss/Ostkreuz
Jakob Gašperin Wischhoff
Editor
N.N.
Student Assistant