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Threat to Democracy? - Conspiracy Theories and their Impact on Voting Behavior

Grant number: unknown

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Key facts

  • Disease

    COVID-19

  • start year

    2020

  • Funder

    Volkswagen Stiftung

  • Principal Investigator

    Dr and Dr and Prof Dr Ina Bieber, Manuela Blumenberg, Reinhard Pollak

  • Research Location

    Germany

  • Lead Research Institution

    GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften

  • Research Priority Alignment

    N/A

  • Research Category

    Policies for public health, disease control & community resilience

  • Research Subcategory

    Communication

  • Special Interest Tags

    N/A

  • Study Type

    Non-Clinical

  • Clinical Trial Details

    N/A

  • Broad Policy Alignment

    Pending

  • Age Group

    Unspecified

  • Vulnerable Population

    Unspecified

  • Occupations of Interest

    Unspecified

Abstract

The project investigates how the conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 threaten democracy. The experimental panel design uses a baseline measurement from before the massive spread of COVID-19 and illustrates whether and to what extent certain population groups can be infected by conspiracy theories and thus alter their voting behavior by not voting or voting extremely. As conspiracy theories are currently on the rise, this project is an important contribution to assess the underlying mechanisms and the resulting threats to democracy.