Public evening lecture by Professor Dr Horst Dreier (Würzburg)

The global crisis of liberal democracy has brought to the fore the question of how this demanding form of political rule can be protected from self-destruction. At first glance, the German Basic Law appears to be well equipped for this: Not only through the so-called eternity clause (Art. 79 Para. 3 GG), but also through the instruments of a "defensive" democracy, which recognises the forfeiture of fundamental rights (Art. 18 GG) as well as the prohibition of associations (Art. 9 Para. 2 GG) and political parties (Art. 21 Para. 2 GG). The possibility of excluding enemies of the constitution from the civil service is also part of this context. But how effective are these institutions? And is it not paradoxical to want to protect political freedom by restricting it?

Horst Dreier held the Chair of Philosophy of Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg until his retirement in late summer 2020. He is a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the Leopoldina. In addition to fundamental questions of constitutional law, his research focuses on the history of constitutional law and ideas, bioethics and religious constitutional law.

Moderation: Professor Dr Daniel Wolff