Oliver Hidalgo

Professor Oliver Hidalgo holds the Chair of Political Science with a focus on Political Theory at the University of Passau. He serves as spokesperson for the 'Politics and Religion' working group of the German Political Science Association and is active in the ECPR Standing Group on Democratic Innovations and the 'Democracy Research' working group (DVPW).

His research centers on applied political theory using historical archives to analyze democracy's structural challenges and the politics-religion nexus, particularly concerning Christianity and Islam. Key areas include:

• Democracy's transformation through digitalization, globalization, and migration
• Threats from populism, extremism, antisemitism, and conspiracy theories
• Polarizing power of political/religious identities
• Transcultural comparative political theory with focus on non-Western democracies

He coordinates the EU Horizon research project TaCT-FoRSED (Arming Democracies Against Conspiracy Myths) with Dr. Hannes Birnkammerer, developing strategies to strengthen democratic resilience against conspiracy beliefs.

His media engagements include:

• Obermain-Tagblatt coverage (May 22, 2025) of his Lichtenfels Democracy Conference lecture
• Deutschlandfunk Nova podcast (February 21, 2025) on conspiracy beliefs as substitute religion
• Evangelical Press Service interview (November 16, 2024) discussing political respect for opponents