Democracy

25. April 2024

Rudolphina Experts: AI Policies

Regulating AI: Are we on the right track?

The regulation of artificial intelligence comes with both challenges and opportunities at the interface between technological progress and social values. A perspective by legal scholar Iris Eisenberger.

28. March 2024

Rudolphina Reads

"Why AI Undermines Democracy" by Mark Coeckelbergh

How do we keep AI from disrupting the foundations of democracy? Mark Coeckelbergh, Professor of Philosophy of Media and Technology at the University of Vienna, explores this question in his latest book. He argues that there is no need for doom-thinking and outlines possible solutions for richer participation in a functioning democracy.

15. February 2024

History of the women's rights movement

First women's movement: Advice to go in days gone by

How do I start my own business? What kind of education should my daughter receive? Questions like these moved women around the turn of the century and many referred to protagonists of the first women's movement for advice. The contemporary historian Corinna Oesch studies these 'citizens' letters' as new important sources.

4. October 2023

Guest article by

Christiane Wendehorst

Rudolphina Experts: Digitalisation

Protect Democracy, Regulate the Internet! But How?

Digital technologies have become integral to everyday life. But what threats does digitalisation pose to democracy? Digital law expert Christiane Wendehorst explains.

22. February 2023

One year of war in Ukraine

What was and is to be expected

One year ago, the Russian full-fledged invasion of Ukraine began. Since then, war has once again become a topic in Europe. Wolfgang Mueller is professor of Russian History at the University of Vienna and in this interview talks about where the Ukrainians' extraordinary defiance comes from and what the war means for Europe's self-image.

21. December 2022

Discriminating algorithms

"Nothing on the Internet is neutral"

Sandra Wachter is one of the leading researchers in the field of Internet and artificial intelligence. In our interview, the alumna of Law, who has been recently appointed Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, explains why it is so important to take a look behind the decisions of algorithms.

3. October 2022

Election campaigns on the Internet

How much algorithm can democracy take?

Democracy can only work if citizens are able to take informed decisions. But what happens if a news feed is so incredibly personalised that nobody really knows what is actually presented to us, and from whom. Sophie Lecheler and her team at the University of Vienna are using experiments and 'data donations' to see what users see – and to understand political discourse in times of digitalisation.

9. February 2022

Carolina Plescia about Democracy

The meanings of voting

Many countries all over the world are facing democratic backsliding. Social scientist Carolina Plescia is taking a closer look at this phenomenon by investigating the meanings of voting.

15. July 2021

Presenting... Sociologist Jana Laura Egelhofer

The Fake News Debate and its Consequences

Fake or not fake: Jana Laura Egelhofer is a doctoral candidate at the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences (ViDSS) and analyses the content and consequences of the fake news debate. In this video, she gives insights into her highly topical and socially relevant research.