Of all domains of inquiry, the science of democracy is hit particularly heavily in non-democratic regimes. Max Steuer argues that non-democratic practices in academia complicate the issue. Here, he calls for a debate on more intra-academic democracy In the mid-2020s, few would argue that it is possible to practice social science equally well in illiberal or outright authoritarian regimes. Indeed, in such regimes there is no certainty that scholars can search for truth if what they find might be inconvenient for — or even damaging to — the ruling power.