The importance to discuss the big challenges
Prof Augusto Santos Silva, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, visited Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ on 8 June. This was a unique opportunity for students, alumni and staff to hear this gifted speaker with years of experience in politics talk about how we can strengthen democratic values and restore them where necessary.
The lecture on 'Institutions for Open Societies in a national and international context' was a collaboration between the Internationalisation programme and Institutions for Open Societies (IOS) at the initiative of the Portuguese Embassy. With this, we wanted to give students a unique opportunity to be inspired with IOS-related topics by both a renowned experience expert and academic speakers: a great addition to your studies. A lively discussion ensued between panelists and students on possible solutions: defending markets against unregulated capitalism, strengthening citizen perspectives and advocating a return to simplicity to restore trust and prevent citizen alienation. The discussion shows the importance as well as the enthusiasm to discuss the big challenges of our time from an interdisciplinary perspective.
I really enjoyed today’s lecture (…). It is interesting to hear someone with a long and distinguished history in both politics and academia tying the two worlds together. This ability seems to have become a rarity […]. As a philosophy student I always appreciate attempts to approach problems from as many angles as possible so events where people from a broad array of disciples are present to discuss one theme in moderated conversation would be very welcome
Restoring democracy
At the same time, the meeting was an inspiring dialogue between the three speakers who complemented each other nicely on the risks as well as the opportunities of institutional democracy.
Prof Bas van Bavel, scientific director of Institutions for Open Societies and president of the Social Science and Humanities Council of the Netherlands, expressed the importance of Institutions for Open Societies as a strategic theme of Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ now that democracy is increasingly under pressure due to societal challenges such as growing distrust in government and media, digitalisation, growing socio-economic and ecological inequality and stagnating prosperity.
, a Portuguese sociologist, professor and politician, reflected on the challenges and argued for the virtuous circle between markets, institutions, and the public sphere. Within this framework, institutions play a pivotal role in fortifying democratic values as the Western democracies are facing mounting challenges. "A weak institutionality is a threat to open societies". The issue of legitimacy (or lack thereof) is therefore of utmost importance, and this can only be done when working together across disciplines.
We need an agenda with clear roadmaps to strengthen open societies against enemies of yesterday, the endogenous risks itself, as well as its enemies of today, such as hate speech, disinformation and populism. […] For such an agenda, both humanities and social science in its broadest sense are needed
Professor of Constitutional Law Jurgen Goossens, shared perspectives on and challenges for digital public governance within open societies. "Tackling today’s wicked problems caused a paradigm shift in the law-government nexus from 'public administration' and 'new public management' towards 'public governance. Nowadays, complex networks of public and private actors are addressing the societal challenges of the 21st century. Moreover, with the increased use and rapid evolvement of algorithmic systems and AI, I believe we are in the midst of a paradigm shift towards 'digital public governance'. However, there, all the more, emerges a blackbox of diffuse responsibilities, complex regulation and public dissatisfaction that needs to be addressed in order to strengthen constitutional resilience." He stressed that the government can no longer do it by itself. Public-private collaborations and meaningful citizen involvement are very much needed. In all cases, trust is necessary and fragile at the same time. Jurgen therefore advocates a 'by-design' approach in which not only legal compliance but also the citizen and public values for open societies are central. After all, it is not just about government and the rule of law.
Constitutional resilience is the ability of the constitutional order to deal with (digital) transformations and its threats while safeguarding the core functions and values of democracy and the rule of law
Current societal challenges such as growing socio-economic inequality, digitalisation, discrimination, the climate crisis and distrust in government and science are testing the limits of an open society and its promise of a fair rule of law, democracy and equality. To contribute to this ideal, it is necessary to combine diverse scientific insights from a variety of disciplines and work together with societal and academic partners. Within 'Institutions for Open Societies', we connect scholars and partners from a variety of backgrounds to address democracy and good governance, transitions and well-being, equality and diversity. Not only in innovative research projects but also in sharing our knowledge through educational activities and public engagement. More information available at uu.nl/ios.