Prof. Steinert, Henrike Sternberg, Hannah Prince, and Prof. Büthe, in collaboration with colleagues at the London School of Economics and at the University of Trento, have published a new article in Science Advances. The study examines heterogeneity in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy across eight European countries and reveals striking differences across countries, ranging from 6.4% of adults in Spain to 61.8% in Bulgaria reporting being hesitant. Prof. Steinert and colleagues then experimentally assess the effectiveness of different messages designed to reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Receiving messages emphasizing either the medical benefits or the hedonistic benefits of vaccination significantly increases COVID-19 vaccination willingness in Germany, whereas highlighting privileges contingent on holding a vaccination certificate increases vaccination willingness in both Germany and the United Kingdom. No message has significant positive effects in any other country. In machine learning–based heterogeneity analyses, the research team reveals that treatment effects are smaller or even negative in settings marked by high conspiracy beliefs and low health literacy. In contrast, trust in government increases treatment effects in some groups. The heterogeneity in vaccine hesitancy and responses to different messages suggests that health authorities should avoid one-size-fits-all vaccination campaigns. The study was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, PERISCOPE: Pan European Response to the Impacts of COVID-19 and future Pandemics and Epidemics.
Professorship of Political Philosophy and Theory
In research, teaching, and social impact activities, the professorship deals with the fundamentals of political philosophy and theory, i.e. theories about the being, the supposed, and the design of political communities, institutions, and processes.
The professorhip's courses provide a systematic overview of the research field of political theory, methods, and procedures of political theory, as well as comparisons between different political theories. In addition, central concepts such as freedom, justice, and power are examined from various theories. A central topic of the chair is democratic theory: Here, central concepts such as sovereignty, representation, participation, and pluralism are analyzed and various models of democracy are taught, such as liberal democratic theory, republican democratic theory, elite democratic theory, etc.
The professorship places a particular focus on theories of technology and society and of technology and politics. For example, current controversies about democracy in digitalized societies are central here: the digital state, digital participation, surveillance, disinformation, resistance to digital technology, and technology regulation.