Constitutionalism is the legal institutionalization of a commitment to the individual and collective self-government of free and equals. On the state level, this commitment generally takes the form of a written constitution and includes a commitment to human rights, democracy and the rule of law.  There is no constitution enacted after 1990 that does not pledge allegiance to these three normative pillars of constitutionalism. Constitutionalism is also central to the progressive development of law beyond the state (see, e.g. Article 2 TEU, Preamble to the Statute of the Council of Europe, the Declaration adopted on 24 September 2012 by the UN General Assembly). I analyze constitutionalist commitments and practices theoretically and historically, in comparative constitutional law and theory as well as in European and international law, to help better understand contemporary challenges and reflect on possible responses to these challenges.

One of the important fundamental freedoms in a constitutional democracy is academic freedom, the freedom to teach and conduct research freely. Yet academic freedom as a fundamental freedom has a somewhat precarious standing in European jurisprudence, and the topic is much less developed in the theoretical literature than most scholars would dare to admit. There is little literature to be found both among scientific articles and practice-oriented commentaries on the meaning of academic freedom and on the case law of academic freedom-related issues. The project aims to fill this research gap by focusing on the following research questions: What exactly is the normative point of academic freedom? What are its boundaries in a constitutional democracy? How far does academic freedom go before other rights and freedoms limit it? What demands can society and policymakers place on academia regarding their role in democracy?