Institut für Staatswissenschaft / Department of Government

A few months ago @klarapernsteiner.bsky.social and I noticed something was off. The corrigendum now also includes @stawi-univie.bsky.social: "Table 1: Recent citations: the University of Vienna enters at #9 (11,144). Table 2: Recent citations: enters at #6 (293)" :) doi.org/10.1017/S104...

Abstract: Science and politics function as distinct yet structurally interconnected social systems, creating a delicate need to balance expertise and democratic representation. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed tensions in this relationship, with initial public support for containment measures giving way to growing skepticism. This paper explores two distinct perspectives on this development: (1) the technocratic overreach perspective, which attributes low support to perceptions that experts overstepped their role in political decision-making; and (2) the blame-deflection perspective, which links it to the perception that politicians strategically used appeals to scientific authority to shield themselves from criticism. Using survey data from the Austrian Corona Panel Project, we test hypotheses derived from these contrasting perspectives to better understand public concerns surrounding the boundary between science and politics during the pandemic. Our findings show that both technocratic overreach and blame deflection perceptions are associated with lower support for mitigation measures, but the patterns of underlying attitudes differ. Perceptions of technocratic overreach were associated with low trust in science, but overall levels of trust in science remained high and stable, suggesting that overreach perceptions stemmed primarily from pre-existing skepticism toward science rather than concerns about technocratic policy-making during the pandemic. In contrast, perceptions of blame deflection were related to low trust in government, which strongly declined during the pandemic. Overall, the study identifies crisis management as a key area where a clearer demarcation between science and politics is needed.

🚨New Publication

Perceptions of Science and Politics During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: Technocratic Overreach or Blame Deflection? 🧪

By @schnizzl.bsky.social, @jamoeberl.bsky.social & Alexander Bogner

➡️ doi.org/10.1007/s116...

🧵1/10

Knowing without knowing: how false confidence shapes the world This Humanities and Social Sciences Communications collection explores the mechanisms and impact of false or misplaced confidence, and how it shapes the ...

Call for Papers: "Knowing Without Knowing: How False Confidence Shapes the World"

🗓️ Deadline: 23.4.2026
🔗 www.nature.com/collections/...

Co-Edited with: M. Adamus, S. Chen

#Misinformation #ConspiracyBeliefs #Polarization #ScienceDenial #Overconfidence 🧪

🔄 Help us spread the word!

Titelblatt eines Berichts des Instituts für Technikfolgen-Abschätzung (ITA) der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW). Der Titel lautet: „Wie lässt sich konstruktiv mit verhärteten Wissenskonflikten umgehen? Eine quantitativ-qualitative Studie zur Wissenschaftsskepsis“. Oben links sind das ÖAW-Logo und die Webadresse www.oeaw.ac.at zu sehen. Rechts unten steht das ITA-Logo. Erscheinungsort und -datum: Wien, Juli 2025, ITA-25-02.

📚 Neue Studie erschienen

"Wie lässt sich konstruktiv mit verhärteten Wissenskonflikten umgehen? Eine quantitativ-qualitative Studie zur Wissenschaftsskepsis"

Mit Alexander Bogner, Agnes Kirchner, Katharina Miko-Schefzig, Michaela Pfadenhauer & Markus Trimmel

🔗 epub.oeaw.ac.at?arp=0x00407b20

📯Neuer Digitize!-Kurzbericht von Katharina Pfaff und Jerg Gutmann @jerggutmann.bsky.social mit interessanten Ergebnissen aus der letzten Digitize!-Befragungswelle über Vertrauen der österreichischen Bevölkerung in die Justiz❗: digitize.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/us...

@isabellareb.bsky.social @marvins.bsky.social @jzmarlier.bsky.social @frawin.bsky.social @thomasmmeyer.bsky.social @beatrizlasherasmas.bsky.social @elenaheinz.bsky.social @martav.bsky.social @schnizzl.bsky.social and Sylvia Kritzinger 3/3

@christinagahn.bsky.social @alexanderdalheimer.bsky.social @mascakir.bsky.social @mkaltenegger.bsky.social @annaliabrunetti.bsky.social @versteegenluca.bsky.social @bseisl.bsky.social 2/3

The schedule of the presenters from the EPSA2025

From 26 to 28 June 2025, the 15th Annual Conference of the European Political Science Association will take place in Madrid, Spain. Many of our colleagues will attend the conference and present their research. #EPSA2025. The presenters are: 🧵 1/3

Proportion of Papers by Year and Team Type

Excited to kick off #EPSA2025 on Day 1, Panel 1! 🎉

I’ll present my co-authored research with @michaelimre.bsky.social on 50 years of gender representation in political science publications. We analyze nearly 100,000 articles across 72 journals to uncover long-term trends. 🔍

@epsanet.bsky.social

Screenshot of the AUSSDA data archive page for the Austrian Corona Panel Project (SUF edition), version 7.0. Lists the project team, citation, description, keywords, and notes. Highlights 35 waves of panel data from March 2020 to July 2023 with German and English translations. Dataset has over 6,700 downloads. Links to the SUF version: https://doi.org/10.11587/28KQNS.

Screenshot of the AUSSDA data archive page for the Austrian Corona Panel Project (OA edition), version 7.0. Includes project details, citation, keywords, and notes. Indicates it's a reduced open access version covering 35 waves of COVID-19-related panel data in Austria with German and English translations. Dataset has over 4,100 downloads. Links to the OA version: https://doi.org/10.11587/P5YJ0O.

📢 Final #ACPP dataset now available via @aussda.bsky.social

🔍 Tracked how people in Austria experienced COVID-19
📅 35 waves (Mar 2020–Jul 2023)
👥 ~1,500 interviews per wave
🌍 English translations

📂 SUF: doi.org/10.11587/28K...
📖 OA: doi.org/10.11587/P5Y...
📊 Explore: woco.univie.ac.at/dashboard/

@carolinaplescia.bsky.social presented her forthcoming book "The Meanings of Voting for Citizens: A Scientific Challenge, a Portrait, and Implications" Oxford University Press in the framework of a course at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev thought by Prof. Jennifer Oser. 📢🎥

Startseite des Pint of Science Festivals 2025 für Wien. Links die Überschrift „Wien Veranstaltungen“ mit Stadtauswahl-Menü, rechts eine interaktive Karte mit Veranstaltungsorten in Wien.

Nächste Woche gehts los: Pint of Science – das Wissenschaftsfestival! 🧠🍺

Vom 19. bis 21. Mai präsentieren Wissenschaftler:innen ihre Forschung in 6 österreichischen Städten – Wien ist mit besonders vielen spannenden Events dabei. Hier ein Überblick!

🎟 pintofscience.at/events/wien
#pint25 #pint25AT

Journal Article: How Illiberal Parties Shape Immigration Discourse and Party Competition How does far right parties' parliamentary and governmental participation influence both their discourse and that of mainstream parties?

⚠️ New AUTHLIB journal article - open access ⚠️

❓How do illiberal far right parties influence discourse on immigration?

Franziska Wagner (CEU), Dean Schafer (@mississippistate.bsky.social, @ceudeminst.bsky.social) Mehmet Yavuz (CEU, Uni Salzburg) have the answers.

www.authlib.eu/journal-arti...

Illiberal Transatlantic Ties and the Reshaping of Democracy: Lessons From the US and Hungary | Review of Democracy In this episode of the Democracy After 2024 series, Zsuzsanna Végh and Daniel Hegedűs examine transatlantic cooperation between state and non-state actors in the United States and Hungary. They…

🎧 Podcast on illiberal transatlantic ties

AUTHLIB's Daniel Hegedus & Zsuzsanna Vegh (GMF) spoke to CEU Democracy Institute's Review of Democracy about the commonalities of MAGA & the Patriots, the transatlantic illiberal network & its impact on CEE democracy.
revdem.ceu.edu/2025/04/16/i...

From March 13 to 14, 2025, the ‘PARTISAN’ project by @markuswagner.bsky.social hosted a workshop on partisan politics.
Researchers from the Department of Government and international guests came together to discuss political stereotypes, affective polarization and more. ✍️ 🗳️

Constituency references in social media: MPs' usage and voters' reaction Social media platforms offer MPs the opportunity to directly signal attention to their local voters in the constituency. And while previous research has linked the strategic use of such local cues in...

📣 New research in EJPR together with the wonderful @nathaliegiger.bsky.social, @stefaniebailer.bsky.social, T. Turner-Zwinkels & S. Heller:

We find:
1) MPs use more constituency signals while campaigning,
2) voters notice the signals,
3) but don't reward that behaviour.

doi.org/10.1111/1475...

Fascinating new research from Dr. @schnizzl.bsky.social @univie.ac.at challenges our assumptions about online surveys. Her comparative study reveals surprising results between probability-based & non-probability methods.
Rethinking how we collect data?
👉🔗 www.hertie-school.org/en/datascien...

Exciting news for #MEDem! 🙌🍾

Die Diskussion, ob div. verkehrspolitische Maßnahmen eher Wirtschafts- oder Gesellschaftspolitik sind, hätten wir als Podcast aufnehmen sollen :)

Danke an das gesamte @derstandard.at-Team für den Wahlkompass zur Wien-Wahl 2025: www.derstandard.at/story/300000...

Early Bird Registration ends TONIGHT!⏳

Ready to enhance your research with survey-embedded experiments?Join Christopher Wratil@chriswratil.bsky.social at MethodsNET Summer School at @weareceu.bsky.social(CEU) his course on designing and implementing survey experiments.
Register here: bit.ly/4gLbv9V

Gestapelte Balkendiagramm-Grafik mit dem Titel: „QA4. Do you think that the overall influence of science and technology on society is…?“ Dargestellt sind Antworten aus 27 EU-Ländern und dem EU-Durchschnitt. Jeder Balken zeigt die Verteilung in Prozent: Very positive (dunkelgrün), Fairly positive (hellgrün), Fairly negative (rosa), Very negative (lila), Don’t know (schwarz). Fokus auf Österreich (AT): 11 %: sehr positiv 58 %: ziemlich positiv 17 %: ziemlich negativ 8 %: sehr negativ 6 %: weiß nicht Österreich gehört zu den Ländern mit der höchsten negativen Bewertung. Nur Rumänien bewertet Wissenschaft und Technologie noch negativer.

Gerade erst die Eurobarometer-Umfrage vom Februar gesehen: Die meisten Menschen in Europa sehen einen positiven Einfluss von Wissenschaft & Technologie auf die Gesellschaft, aber Österreich gehört zu den Ländern mit den höchsten negativen Bewertungen (18 % + 4 % = 22 %) …

europa.eu/eurobaromete...

We are happy to announce that PhD student Belén Abdala successfully defended her thesis "From Voting to Candidacy: An Analysis of Individuals’ Motivations to Participate in Politics" on 12th of March!

Congratulations, Belén! Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors!

#PhDone

📣 Mein Bericht in der neuesten Ausgabe von Digitize!-News @stawi-univie.bsky.social zu politischer Professionalisierung:

Die Bevölkerung erwartet, dass Politikerinnen und Politiker ein Vollzeitamt nicht mit einer weiteren Erwerbstätigkeit kombinieren.

👉 Bericht: shorturl.at/BVOzH

Neuer Digitize!-Kurzbericht von @ohuwyler.bsky.social 📯📖 mit interessanten Ergebnissen aus der 7. Digitize!-Befragungswelle ❗

In der Bundesregierung Stocker (plus Staatssekretär:innen) wird es acht Personen mit Background in Kammern/ÖGB geben (38%). Rein biografisch ist das also die "sozialpartnerschaftlichste" Regierung seit Kreisky.

Geschichtsvergessenheit oder einfach nur kollektives Rechercheversagen in praktisch allen Medien?

Nein, das ist *nicht* die erste Dreierkoalition Österreichs, auch nicht in der Zweiten Republik. Dauert ca. 20 Sekunden, das zu recherchieren ...

We are happy to welcome @christinagahn.bsky.social as university assistant postdoc at our department 🎉

We are excited to announce the release of the new #AUTNES dashboard! 🥳

Discover insights on Austrian voters' attitudes and behavior from 23 waves of the AUTNES Online Panel Study (2017–2024) here: 131.130.71.40:3838/autnes/
📝📈🗳️

I can’t believe it yet but I‘m #PhDone! A special thanks to my committee @heikekluever.bsky.social @thomasmmeyer.bsky.social @anselmhager.bsky.social @markuskollberg.bsky.social & @tiondelisa.bsky.social! I learned a lot and I am truly grateful for the experience @humboldtuni.bsky.social 🎓🥳

On 23rd of January, the Department of Government celebrated its 50th anniversary in the Skylounge of Vienna University with many guests and former employees.

We would like to thank everyone involved for this wonderful and unforgettable event!