Academic freedom is under threat across the globe and a wave of substantial academic freedom declines affects not only autocracies but also (liberal) democracies. However, although the development of academic freedom has generated scholarly attention, this article presents the first systematic conceptualization and measurement of academic freedom growth and decline episodes. In particular, this article systematically analyzes the development of academic freedom across the globe and shows that global development follows waves of growth and decline. The first growth wave started in the mid-1940s and was succeeded by a second growth wave that started around 1977 and lasted for more than 30 years resulting in the greatest improvement in academic freedom that has been recorded since 1900. However, since 2013, we see an ongoing decline wave in academic freedom. Overall, this article highlights how academic freedom developed over time and across the globe in waves of growth and decline.

学术自由在全球范围内都受到威胁，学术自由大幅下降的浪潮不仅影响独裁国家，还影响（自由）民主国家。然而，尽管学术自由的发展引起了学术界的关注，本文首次对学术自由的增长和衰退事件进行了系统的概念化和测量。特别是，本文系统分析了全球学术自由的发展，表明全球发展遵循增长和衰退的浪潮。第一次增长浪潮始于 20 世纪 40 年代中期，随后是 1977 年左右开始的第二次增长浪潮，持续了 30 多年，导致学术自由度达到 1900 年以来最大的改善。但是，自 2013 年以来，我们看到学术自由持续下降的浪潮。总的来说，本文强调了学术自由是如何随着时间的推移在全球范围内随着增长和衰退的浪潮而发展的。