# Academic freedom: how to defend ‘the very condition of a living democracy’ in France and worldwide
**Date de l'événement :** 17/10/2025
* Publié le 17/10/2025

### Image
![shutterstock_2614813557(1)_c00ut_fhebh.png](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/memory-sp-pr.appspot.com/o/prod%2F1y7CgDOTakHDiB3dgoi0%2FprojectsMedias%2Fh0y5q5aIFdo4obZuGbXS%2Fthumbs%2Fshutterstock_2614813557(1)_c00ut_fhebh_1600x900.png?alt=media&token=bd63e509-838b-4d57-84da-81722ebdd190) 

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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.  
  
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**→** [**Cliquez ici pour lire cet article en français**](https://sources.sciencespo.fr/content/2025-10-15/la-liberte-academique-dans-le-monde-et-en-france-un-bien-de-premiere-necessite_NQVkpp5s49SkM2P9FyJh)

**Pour lire l'article complet, cliquez sur le lien ci-dessous :** [https://theconversation.com/academic-freedom-how-to-defend-the-very-condition-of-a-living-democracy-in-france-and-worldwide-267689](https://theconversation.com/academic-freedom-how-to-defend-the-very-condition-of-a-living-democracy-in-france-and-worldwide-267689)

## Auteur(s)
Stéphanie Balme

### Date
17/10/2025

### Type(s) de ressource
`#Texte` 

### Discipline(s)
`#Science politique` 

### Thématique(s)
`#Éducation / formation` `#Démocratie / institutions` `#Sciences / connaissance` 

### Langue(s)
`#Anglais` 

## Crédits photo
Phil Pasquini / Shutterstock

**Licence attribuée à l'article :** `#CC-BY-ND (Attribution, Pas de modification)` 

### Famille(s) de contenu
`#Recherche` 

### Type(s) d'accès
`#Accès libre` 

### Partenaire(s)
**[The Conversation](https://sources.sciencespo.fr/structure/the-conversation_QdYqgYnzKVyePLgMp3g8)** 


### Hébergeur(s)
`#The Conversation` 

## Autres crédits
**Sujet de la photographie** : Berkeley, CA USA – April 17, 2025: Students, professors and staff protest the dictates of President Trump on the university or face the loss of federal monies for their resistance.

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