Academic freedom and the "time inconsistency problem"

Lucio Baccaro | Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung

The history of the university is one of protracted struggle against the dominant authority of the age (in the beginning, the papacy) to be allowed to "search for truth" without interference from political power. Recent events suggest that the autonomy of universities and research institutions is threatened by highly mobilized social groups, who find the publicly uttered opinions or teaching of academics offensive and would like to cancel them, and by politicians who want to impose their interpretations of fundamental values. In the age of social media, university administrators are subject to all sorts of pressures to align or distance themselves from particular stances and to impose sanctions on members of the university.

University administrators face a "time inconsistency" problem similar to the one affecting some economic institutions. They should tie their hands. If they do not, and instead intervene in medias res, their commitment to academic freedom vacillates. Universities should protect their autonomy from outside interference by pre-committing to following a predefined course of action when the opinions of some current or prospective members, while not being illegal per se, conflict with the moral sensitivities of some actors or even the majority, and by making it widely known that they will not bend these rules even in emergencies.