Selected work
Book · 2022
Behavioral Political Economy and Democratic Theory
Examines the friction between modern technology and human rationality within liberal democracies, and advocates a behaviorally grounded theory of democracy for the digital age.
Journal article · 2026 · Open access
Machine Advisors: Integrating Large Language Models Into Democratic Assemblies
Examines the integration of large language models into democratic assemblies: the promise of broader access to expert knowledge, and the risks posed by hallucination, opacity, and private control.
Journal article · 2025 · Open access
Universal Basic AI Access: Countering the Digital Divide
A policy proposal for countering emerging digital divides in access to frontier generative AI.
Working paper · 2026 · Open access
Built for Humans Only? Why AI Adoption in Higher Education Requires a New Deal
Argues that bundling the authentication of student performance with its quantitative evaluation is no longer sustainable under generative AI, and proposes a New Deal Model built on student-owned, machine-readable portfolios.
Working paper · 2026 · Open access
Digital Homunculi and Institutional Design: Breaking Through the Experimentation Bottleneck
Proposes generative agents as a way around the experimentation bottleneck in democracy research, and examines the methodological challenges involved.
Book
Špecián, Petr. 2022. Behavioral Political Economy and Democratic Theory: Fortifying Democracy for the Digital Age. Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy. New York: Routledge. DOI · Publisher page · Overview
Journal articles
Špecián, Petr. 2026. “Machine Advisors: Integrating Large Language Models Into Democratic Assemblies.” Social Epistemology 40(3): 393–408. Published online 2024. DOI · Full text · Overview
Špecián, Petr, and Jitka Špeciánová. 2025. “Universal Basic AI Access: Countering the Digital Divide.” Acta Informatica Pragensia 14(2): 272–281. DOI · Full text · Overview
Špecián, Petr, and Lucy Císař Brown. 2025. “Give the machine a chance, human experts ain’t that great…” AI & Society 40(2): 1155–1156. Published online 2024. DOI · Full text · Overview
Špecián, Petr. 2022. “The Myth of the Victim Public: Democracy Contra Disinformation.” Filozofia 77(10): 791–803. DOI · Full text · Overview
Špecián, Petr. 2022. “Shall Justice Prevail? Reforming the Epistemic Basic Structure in a Non-Ideal World.” Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 11(8): 75–83. Read
Špecián, Petr. 2022. “Epistemology and the Pandemic: Lessons from an Epistemic Crisis.” Social Epistemology 36(2): 167–179. DOI · Overview
Špecián, Petr. 2019. “Phenomenological Perspectives on Economics: Schütz versus Düppe.” Horizon: Studies in Phenomenology 8(2): 613–631. DOI · Overview
Špecián, Petr. 2019. “The Precarious Case of the True Preferences.” Society 56(3): 267–272. DOI
Špecián, Petr. 2017. “Ekonomická analýza referenda [An Economic Analysis of a Referendum].” Politická ekonomie 65(4): 460–475. DOI · Full text · Overview
Špecián, Petr. 2016. “Konec se blíží? Kritické připomínky k teorii kolapsů [The End Is Near? Critical Remarks on the Theory of Collapse].” Teorie vědy / Theory of Science 38(4): 425–448. DOI · Full text · Overview
Špecián, Petr. 2015. “Potřebuje ekonomie psychologii? [Does Economics Need Psychology?].” Teorie vědy / Theory of Science 37(3): 279–301. DOI · Full text
Melzochová, Jitka, and Petr Špecián. 2015. “An Estimate of the Basic Income Costs: Case of the Czech Republic.” Procedia Economics and Finance 30: 550–557. DOI · Overview
Špecián, Petr. 2014. “Phenomenology and Economics.” Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics 7(1): 161–165. DOI · Full text
Špecián, Petr. 2012. “Od Misese k Schutzovi: Otázka apriorismu v ekonomii [From Mises to Schutz: A Question of Apriorism in Economics].” Politická ekonomie 60(3): 395–410. DOI
Špecián, Petr. 2012. “Svět a věda u Ludwiga von Misese [World and Science in Ludwig von Mises].” Filozofia 67(4): 335–346. Read
Chapters
Špeciánová, Jitka, and Petr Špecián. 2024. “Umělá inteligence na trzích práce [Artificial Intelligence in Labor Markets].” In Proč se nebát umělé inteligence?, 229–240. Brno: JOTA.
Špecián, Petr. 2022. “Democracy and Anthropic Risk.” In Green Marble 2022: Studies on the Anthropocene and Ecocriticism, 215–226. Institute for Anthropocene Studies. Volume DOI
Špecián, Petr, and Marek Hudík. 2021. “O expertech a lidech: Spasitelské lhaní v časech pandemie [Of Experts and Men: White Lies in the Time of a Pandemic].” In Dedičstvo koronakrízy: Ako lepšie zvládnuť ďalšiu pandémiu, 53–74. Bratislava: INESS.
Preprints and working papers
Špecián, Petr. 2026. “Built for Humans Only? Why AI Adoption in Higher Education Requires a New Deal.” SSRN working paper. DOI · Full text · Overview
Špecián, Petr. 2026. “Digital Homunculi and Institutional Design: Breaking Through the Experimentation Bottleneck.” arXiv:2409.00826. DOI · Full text · Overview
Public writing
Špecián, Petr. 2023. “A Case for Democracy’s Digital Playground.” The Loop, ECPR. Read
Špecián, Petr. 2022. “Science of Democracy and the Owl of Minerva.” The Loop, ECPR. Read
Citations for reference managers: BibTeX