Erin F. Delaney

As we begin a new semester, during what seems to be a never-ending pandemic, with cultural and political tensions high, it is reinvigorating and humbling to be reminded of the privilege and responsibility we hold as members of the academy. In articles that dovetail beautifully, both Vicki Jackson and Elisabeth Alber highlight the influence and role of universities as institutions central to “both the democratic and the constitutionalist components of democratic constitutionalism” (Jackson at 159) and, in some circumstances, to the development of “positive peace,” or a “harmonised integrated society” itself (Alber at 53).

In her article, Knowledge Institutions in Constitutional Democracies, Vicki Jackson defines knowledge institutions broadly, including universities, the free press, certain government administrative offices, NGOs, and even courts and legislatures, in some instances. If, in the words of Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Huq, “the practical operation of liberal democracy requires a shared epistemic foundation,” then that epistemic base (or capacity) must be protected; if governments withhold or distort information to produce “correlated, population-wide errors,” democracy itself is at risk. Threats—whether political, economic, technological, or social—must be identified and addressed. Jackson is careful to note that legal protections to “secur[e] the foundations of knowledge institutions” (P. 163) are likely to vary depending on the institution in question. But she calls for close attention to the “knowledge ecosystem” of any individual state as something requiring “constitutional protection and effective self-monitoring” (P. 162), outlining many open questions and thus a robust research agenda for scholars. (Pp. 219-21.) Jackson’s article reminds comparative constitutional scholars to engage with the foundational functional underpinnings of constitutionalism—a call that requires contextualized and nuanced analysis.

Elisabeth Alber, in turn, highlights the ways in which knowledge institutions are relevant to questions of regional (or federal) integration, and in so doing, provides an excellent example of detailed and case-specific research. In her book chapter, Academic Freedom and Cross-Border Cooperation, Alber explores the role of institutionally autonomous “Higher Education Institutions” (HEIs) in the Euroregion of Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino.

Alber studies regionalism and democracy, and she has particular expertise in the challenges faced in (and by) South Tyrol, or the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen, the northernmost region of Italy.  South Tyrol borders the Austrian Land Tyrol and the autonomous Italian province of Trentino. A trilingual region (Italian, German, Ladin), South Tyrol has been a disputed region and the site of an “internationalized” conflict since the 1946 Paris Peace Treaty, in which Austria was identified as a protecting power for German speakers in the region. As she explains, until the 1990s, “cross-border cooperation was politically contentious, as the Italian government perceived it as illegitimacy regional para-diplomacy.” (P. 51.) Notwithstanding these tensions, she outlines the ways in which HEIs have been able and continue to foster integration and cooperation.

Long before the formal designation of the Euroregion, universities in Austria (Innsbruck) and Italy (Padua) cooperated on courses, and Austria allowed South Tyrolean German and Ladin speakers access to university and benefits “on a par with Austrian citizens.” (P. 52.) Indeed, a 1983 agreement between Italy and Austria allowing for cooperation agreements between universities, created new curricula and new opportunities for bilingual education. The University of Innsbruck, in Austria, was able to create an Italian law curriculum, making it possible to study Italian law (at least in part) in German. These efforts resulted in “a true class of South Tyrolean legal experts, familiar with the borderland’s socio-legal identities…in both linguistic groups.” (P. 53.)

In the past decade, the identification of Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino as a Euroregion has further deepened the cross-border relationships in teaching and research. Alber explains that each constituent unit of the Euroregion has an autonomous HEI—Innsbruck, the University of Trento, and the Free University of Bolzano/Bozen—and that together they have been able to strengthen and develop integrated education, including the recently created Euroregio professorships, where the holders teach at all three institutions. Alber argues that the HEIs were integral in allowing for a true borderland identity to develop, contributing to the vitality of the region. The fact that the HEIs had institutional autonomy (an element of academic freedom in Alber’s definition) allowed them to experiment and overcome political barriers encouraging peace and cooperation.

But, of course, the idea of higher education as a contributor to democracy has a long history on both sides of the Atlantic. As Jackson writes in her piece, President Washington argued “for a national university to help citizens learn ‘to distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority’.” And in the European Union, the success and experience of Erasmus+ highlights the role of education in contributing to a shared set of values. Begun in 1987, Erasmus—the EU educational exchange program—has been argued to contribute to European integration, the creation of a European identity, and even European solidarity. In short, knowledge institutions are indeed power, which must be both protected and wielded responsibly.