how to defend ‘the very condition of a living democracy’ in France and worldwide

Director of the CERI at SciencesPo, Stéphanie Balme conducted a study for France Universités, an organisation whose members are presidents of universities, titled “Defending and promoting academic freedom. A global issue, an urgent matter for France and Europe. Findings and proposals for action.” She shares some of her insights here.

Unofficially unveiled on October 2, 2025, US President Donald Trump’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education is a striking illustration of the politicisation of knowledge and the desire for ideological control over scientific output in the United States. Behind the rhetoric of “restoring excellence” lies a new stage in the institutionalisation of “sciento-populism”: mistrust of science is being strategically exploited to flatter populist sentiments and turn academics into scapegoats, held responsible for the “decline” of US civilisational hegemony.

This phenomenon, although exaggerated, is not isolated. At the same time as Trump’s announcement, the 2025 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII) revealed that China had entered the top 10 most innovative nations for the first time, while the US, still in third place, showed signs of structural weakness. Eight European countries, a little-known fact, are among the top 15. France has been downgraded to 13th place, the position occupied by China three years ago.

The GII’s 80 indicators, covering nearly 140 countries, are not limited to measuring technological or scientific performance: they also assess the ability of states to guarantee a comprehensive, free and secure political-institutional, economic and financial environment. By cross-referencing these data with those of the Academic Freedom Index, the main reference tool developed since 2019, we can see that academic freedom is no longer solely threatened in authoritarian regimes. It is now being undermined at the very heart of democracies, affecting the humanities and social sciences as much as the experimental sciences.

The awarding of the 2025 Nobel prize in economics to Philippe Aghion, Peter Howitt and Joel Mokyr is a timely reminder that growth and innovation depend on an ecosystem based on freedom of research and the free flow of ideas. Their work on the historical and structural conditions of technological progress shows that no economy can prosper sustainably when knowledge is constrained or subject to ideological control.

Authoritarian regimes and ‘techno-nationalism’

Paradoxically, authoritarian regimes are now among the main investors in research, although they strictly control its objectives in line with their political priorities. Engaged in a phase of rapid “techno-nationalist” development, they are investing heavily in science and technology as instruments of power, without yet suffering the corrosive effects of mistrust of knowledge.

Democracies, on the other hand, struggle to fund research while maintaining their defence spending and must contend with the rise of movements that challenge the very legitimacy of science as it is practiced. In order to better understand these dynamics, I conducted a study for France Universités titled “Defending and promoting academic freedom. A global issue, an urgent matter for France and Europe. Findings and proposals for action”.

Multiple violations in France

France is a particularly striking example of the vulnerabilities described above. In 2024–2025, attacks on academic freedom took many forms: increased foreign interference, regional public funding made conditional on charters with vague criteria, ideological pressure on teaching and research content, conference cancellations, campaigns to stigmatise teachers and researchers on social media, interventions by politicians even in university boards of governors, restrictions on access to research sites or grants, and finally, an increase in gag orders.

Unlike other fundamental rights, academic freedom in France is distinguished by the absence of a firmly rooted political, professional and civic culture. Academics who are victims of attacks on their freedom to practice their profession often find themselves isolated, while the institutional capacity of universities to act as a counterweight remains limited.

This vulnerability is exacerbated by dependence on public funding, career insecurity, administrative overload and a lack of real institutional autonomy. Nevertheless, the current fragility could be transformed into a lever for renewal, promoting the emergence of a strong culture of academic freedom and, in so doing, strengthening France’s position in global science geopolitics.

A multidimensional strategy

The study for France Universités proposes a proactive strategy based on several complementary areas, targeting four categories of stakeholders: the state, the universities, civil society, and those at the European level.

The first area concerns strengthening the legal foundation: constitutionalising academic freedom, reaffirming the autonomy of institutions and the independence of staff, and finally, recognising the principle of source confidentiality (as for journalists) and incorporating a specific regime into the French research code for sensitive data. It is also proposed to extend the system for protecting the nation’s scientific and technical potential (PPST) to the humanities and social sciences, incorporating risks of interference to reconcile scientific security and freedom.

The second area focuses on action by universities: coordinating initiatives at the national level via an independent body, rolling out academic freedom charters across all institutions and research organisations, strengthening the protection of teachers through a dedicated national fund, and establishing rapid assistance protocols. It also provides for the creation of an independent observatory to monitor violations of academic freedom, training for management and advisers on these issues, and the coordination of legal, psychological and digital support for academics who are targeted. Finally, this area aims to promote cross-collaboration between security or defence officials and researchers and teacher-researchers.

The third area aims to promote a genuine culture of academic freedom in the public sphere: launching a national awareness campaign, encouraging student initiatives, transforming France’s Fête de la science (Science Festival) into a Festival of Science and Academic Freedom, organising a national conference to define a participatory action plan, and rolling out a wide-ranging campaign to promote research in partnership with all operators, starting with the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). This campaign, supported by visual aids, posters, drawings and a unifying hashtag, should celebrate research in all media and highlight its essential role in serving a democratic society.

The fourth and final priority aims to incorporate these measures into European science diplomacy by re-establishing a European ranking of universities worldwide that includes an academic freedom index, and by working to have that included in major international rankings. It also aims to strengthen cooperation between the European University Association and European university alliances, establish a European observatory on academic freedom, create a European talent passport for refugee researchers, and make Europe a safe haven for scientists in danger, with the ultimate goal of obtaining recognition in the form of a Nobel Peace Prize dedicated to academic freedom.

A precious common good

Defending academic freedom is not a corporatist reflex: on the contrary, it means protecting a precious common good and the very condition of a living democracy. Of course, this right belongs to only a small number of people, but it benefits everyone, just like freedom of the press, which in France is guaranteed by the law of 1881. Contrary to popular belief, academics are often the last to defend their professional rights, while journalists, quite rightly, actively protect theirs.

The French university system, as it has been constructed since 1945, and even more so after 1968, was not designed to confront authoritarianism. Today, French institutions would not be able to resist systematic attacks for very long if a populist and/or authoritarian regime came to power. Powerful, wealthy and autonomous, the Ivy League universities themselves faltered in the face of the MAGA movement and are still struggling to recover. Many US scientists are now moving to Europe, Japan or South Korea.

How, then, could French universities, which are both financially and institutionally dependent and have only recently established alumni associations, cope with such an onslaught? Not to mention that this would ultimately spell the end of the ambition behind the EU’s Choose Europe for Science programme.

Despite the gravity of the situation, it opens up unprecedented opportunities for collective action, democratic innovation and the development of concrete solutions. Now is the time to act collectively, coordinate stakeholders and launch a broad French and European campaign in support of academic freedom: this is the purpose of the study I conducted.

A weekly e-mail in English featuring expertise from scholars and researchers. It provides an introduction to the diversity of research coming out of the continent and considers some of the key issues facing European countries. Get the newsletter!