The non-profit Hertie Foundation and the Volkswagen Foundation are funding a new international research initiative with a total of around 2.5 million euros.
How can democracies counter terrorism, disinformation, digital surveillance and authoritarian tendencies without undermining the very principles of the rule of law and human rights that they seek to defend? The newly established Max Planck Center for Democracy, Security and Human Rights is dedicated to addressing this question. The non-profit Hertie Foundation and the Volkswagen Foundation are each providing around 1.25 million euros in funding to support the international research centre until 2030.
The Center is a joint initiative of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg and the Minerva Centre for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This German-Israeli collaboration brings together perspectives from two democracies that are confronted, in different ways, with issues of the rule of law, counter-terrorism, social polarisation and the protection of human rights.
German-Israeli research on a global democratic issue
Liberal democracies are under pressure worldwide: from political polarisation, security threats and authoritarian claims to power. Many states are responding to this with new security laws, digital surveillance or restrictions on individual freedoms.
The new Max Planck Center addresses this area of tension. The collaboration between Freiburg and Jerusalem opens up a comparative perspective on different democratic experiences, legal traditions and security policy realities. Researchers from Germany, Israel and the Arab-Palestinian region will work together to investigate how democratic states can remain capable of acting without compromising their own principles.
To this end, the Center brings together experts in constitutional law, human rights law, security law, criminal law and legal theory. The aim is to develop new academic concepts that transcend the traditional dichotomy between ‘security’ and ‘freedom’.
International research between Freiburg and Jerusalem
The Max Planck Center is organised on a binational basis and operates from sites in Freiburg and Jerusalem. It is led by Prof. Dr Ralf Poscher of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law and Prof. Dr Barak Medina of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The co-directors are Prof. Yuval Shany, former Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee, and Prof. Dr Tatjana Hörnle, an expert in criminal law and legal theory.
A key element is a fellowship and scholarship programme for early-career researchers. PhD students and postdocs will be able to undertake research stays at both locations. Joint seminars, international conferences and exchanges between the participating research centres are intended to facilitate sustainable academic ‘brain circulation’.
Dr Georg Schütte, Executive Director of the Volkswagen Foundation: “With the Max Planck Center, we are supporting a project that combines academic excellence with high societal relevance. Particularly at a time when populist and authoritarian movements are gaining influence, we need robust research into how democracies can remain resilient without abandoning their own principles. This is a highly topical issue, not only in Germany and Israel.”
Annette Schavan, Chair of the Executive Board of the non-profit Hertie Foundation: “Liberal democracy does not fall from the sky. It must be relearned, defended and valued anew in every generation. The new Center creates a special space in which young researchers in particular from Germany, Israel and the Arab-Palestinian region can work together to forge stronger links between democracy, security and human rights.”
Sources: Gemeinnützige Hertie-Stiftung | VolkswagenStiftung (in German)