The growing influence of anti-pluralist parties is often accompanied by a decline in academic freedom in the respective country. This is one of the findings of the latest Academic Freedom Index (AFI). It covers 179 countries worldwide.

The foundation has brought together researchers from the humanities, cultural studies, and social sciences, as well as practitioners from outside academia, to develop new ideas and solutions for making democracies more resilient.

Liberal democracy is a basic prerequisite for a scientific landscape with independent freedom of research. But how can we protect our democratic structures? And what dangers are they exposed to? Ten newly funded research projects are dedicated to these and other highly topical questions of democracy research.