Democracy as Practice in Higher Education

Reflections from the German U15 Conference in Münster, See: https://www.german-u15.de/

In 2022, I reflected on the role of universities in sustaining democratic culture after attending Zeit für Demokratie. Four years later, I found myself returning to similar questions at a conference hosted by German U15 and the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre at the University of Münster.

The context has changed. Democracies worldwide face increasing pressure, and the responsibility of universities as spaces for free inquiry and public reasoning is being discussed more urgently again.

One insight became particularly clear during the discussions: democracy is not a stable condition — it is a practice that must be continuously exercised.

Democracy Requires Discourse

A recurring theme throughout the conference was the importance of keeping democracy alive through discourse.

Democratic societies depend on spaces where arguments can be exchanged respectfully and openly. Yet an uncomfortable question emerged: Are we truly open to conflict in academic debate?

Democracy requires the ability to tolerate disagreement. Universities should therefore not only encourage participation but also strengthen the ability to argue based on evidence rather than opinion.

This raises an essential educational challenge:

What kind of orientation knowledge do students need to distinguish facts from opinions and to evaluate arguments critically?

Universities are uniquely positioned to cultivate this competence.

Freedom of Teaching and Democratic Responsibility

Germany’s constitutional framework guarantees the freedom of research and teaching. However, as discussed during the conference, this freedom exists within a democratic constitutional order.

Historically, the relationship between universities and democracy has not always been straightforward. After World War II, democratic education was promoted by the Allied forces but initially resisted by German universities. Later, in the 1960s, Willy Brandt revived the idea of universities as democratic spaces of participation.

This tension remains today: universities should not indoctrinate students, yet they carry responsibility for enabling democratic capability.

As Hannah Arendt argued, freedom is inseparable from public life. Influenced by Karl Jaspers, she emphasized that speaking and acting together in a shared political space are essential foundations of a free society.

The Democratic Habitus

A key insight discussed during the conference was that participation alone does not automatically create democracy.

What is needed is a democratic habitus — a set of attitudes and competencies that allow democratic processes to function.

This includes:

• recognition of equality and respect for others
• willingness to listen and argue with evidence
• responsibility for collective institutions
• constructive handling of conflict
• self-reflection and openness to new information
• willingness to participate in shared decision-making

Democracy, in this sense, resembles a plant. It cannot be forced but must be cultivated through the right conditions: recognition, self-efficacy, participation, and shared responsibility.

Learning Democracy Through Experience

Many examples presented at the conference illustrated that democratic competence is best developed through experience rather than instruction.

Student transformation labs, sustainability initiatives, and peer networks such as Netzwerk n show how students can actively shape their universities. Evaluations of these initiatives suggest that such experiences strengthen self-efficacy and personal development.

Closely connected to this is the concept of research-based learning. When students formulate research questions, analyze evidence, and construct arguments, they experience how knowledge is generated. Understanding this process strengthens the ability to evaluate claims critically — a key competence for democratic societies.

Structural Challenges

Despite many promising initiatives, structural challenges remain within universities:

• hierarchical decision structures
• limited resources for student participation
• reputational asymmetries between research and teaching
• democratic engagement often depending on individual initiative

While research thrives on collaboration, teaching is often still an individual activity. If universities want to strengthen democratic culture, teaching itself needs to become a shared space for dialogue and reflection.

Integrating Democracy into Teaching

A strong consensus at the conference was that democracy education should not be treated as an additional curricular module.

Instead, it should be integrated into the core practice of teaching and research. Participatory methods and structured dialogue formats can help students experience democratic negotiation processes directly.

In my own teaching, I experiment with such approaches using participatory methods and structured discussion formats that enable students to practice collective decision-making and evidence-based argumentation.

Democracy is not learned through lectures alone. It must be experienced.

Connecting Democracy and Innovation

This perspective also connects closely with my own research. My work focuses on identifying and developing human potential for innovation, particularly among young adults. Innovation processes rely on competencies that strongly overlap with democratic capacities: critical thinking, openness to different perspectives, collaborative problem-solving, and the ability to evaluate ideas based on evidence.

In this sense, fostering democratic discourse in universities does not only strengthen civic culture — it also creates the conditions for innovation and responsible problem-solving in complex societies. Universities that cultivate dialogue, reflection, and intellectual independence enable students not only to participate in democracy but also to contribute creatively to societal challenges.

An Ongoing Task

One statistic mentioned during the conference was striking: more than 70% of the world’s population currently lives under autocratic governance systems. Academic freedom itself is therefore far from guaranteed.

Universities carry a dual responsibility: to protect scientific freedom and to cultivate democratic capability.

Both require constant practice.

The central question that remains is therefore not whether universities should contribute to democracy, but how we create structures that allow democratic practice to become part of everyday academic life.