Vorsicht Sicherheit!

Beware of security! At first sight, this warning is a paradox. It emphasises the price of security – and that is liberty. However, what we mean by liberty and security is contingent. Concepts of liberty and security have been expanded over time and may be even overstretched today. In historical perspective, providing security by the state came first, whereas (liberal) liberty from state interference developed later on. For the modern rule of law-based, constitutional state, liberty is the raison d’être. Autocratic regimes, in contrast, can still safeguard their legitimacy via security-oriented output. In view of changing and multiple perils to security as well as to liberty, the contributions focus on the ‘right’ balance between security and liberty in various contexts and on how this balance can be theoretically substantiated.
With contributions by:
Gabriele Abels, Diana Auth, Thorsten Bonacker, Martin Florack, Timo Grunden und Karl-Rudolf Korte, Peter Graf Kielmansegg, Ursula Jasper und Moritz Weiß, Steffen Kailitz und Stefan Wurster, Bernd Ladwig, Luisa Lemme, Harald Müller, Jeffrey K. Olick, Christine Prokopf und Sinja Hantscher, Peter Schaar, Cord Schmelzle, Ulrich Schneckener, Wolfgang Seibel, Annick T.R. Wibben, Holger Zapf, Heidrun Zinecker