Citizens' university: Trump's policies and their consequences for democracy and Europe

Since the classical separation of state and market, democracy has been seen as a counterweight to economic power. However, current developments in the USA are calling this relationship into question. Prof Dr Birger P. Priddat, Professor Emeritus of Economics and Philosophy and Senior Researcher at the WittenLab. Studium fundamentale at Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H) observes: President Donald Trump runs the state like a corporation. Political decisions are no longer primarily made according to democratic procedures, but are instead orientated towards strategic interests, which Trump sometimes enforces by emergency decrees that bypass Congress and the Constitution. In this context, economic logic is also gaining influence: donations can secure political privileges, while tariffs create international dependencies. This creates a web of financial and data sanctions, which Prof Priddat describes as a "post-territorial empire" and will explain in more detail at the Witten Citizens' university.

The lecture will also focus on the close connection between politics and technology. Through collaboration with influential entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, deregulation and the use of artificial intelligence are putting additional pressure on democratic processes and promoting the development of a "tech autocracy".

Finally, the focus turns to Europe and the question of the extent to which such political and economic strategies can contribute to the destabilisation of existing structures and what pressure they exert on European states to strengthen their own strategic autonomy. It is important to observe how democracy can fundamentally assert itself under changed global conditions.

The event will take place on Thursday, 30 April 2026, from 8 p.m. at Haus Witten, Ruhrstraße 86. Admission costs 7 euros at the box office (5 euros reduced, e.g. for students). The Citizens' University is a joint format of the vhs Witten | Wetter | Herdecke and the WittenLab. Zukunftslabor Studium fundamentale of the Witten/Herdecke University.