Thorsten Thiel

Prof. Dr. Thorsten Thiel is a full professor at the Faculty of Economics, Law and Social Sciences at the University of Erfurt. He serves as holder of the Professorship for Democracy Promotion and Digital Policy, Equal Opportunities Officer (Gleichstellungsbeauftragter) of the Faculty, and representative for Social Sciences study programs. His research focuses on political theory in digital contexts, specifically examining democratic transformations through technology, sovereignty in digital infrastructure, and structural changes in public spheres.

• Professorship for Democracy Promotion and Digital Policy
• Equal Opportunities Officer
• Faculty Representative for Social Sciences
• ORCID: 0000-0002-4261-118X

His scholarly work investigates:

• Digital sovereignty frameworks and their political implications
• Structural transformations of public spheres through social media
• AI's impact on democratic processes
• Privatization of digital public infrastructure
• Anonymous activism and digital rights
• Republicanism in networked societies

Recent publications analyze emerging challenges to democratic governance in digital environments, including algorithmic decision-making, platform regulation, and crisis hackathons as democratic innovations. He has contributed to debates on digital sovereignty (2024), AI's influence on political will-formation (2024), and Habermasian digital public sphere theory (2023). His #WirVsVirus hackathon analysis (2023) explores participatory technology in crisis governance.