2024 Division Calls

Division Chair(s): Gianna Englert, Southern Methodist University; Brandon Turner, Clemson University; and Daniel Kapust, University of Wisconsin

We invite proposals for panels, papers, and roundtables in light of this year’s theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” The history of political thought offers a range of resources for studying the perils and promises of democracy. We are particularly interested in proposals that highlight elements from the history of political thought that address contemporary challenges regarding the decline and potential regeneration of democratic norms, practices, and institutions. How does the history of political thought illuminate threats to democratic orders–internal and external, past and present? How do past accounts and even critiques of democracy inform our contemporary attempts at reform? Finally, how can the history of political ideas help us think about future possibilities for democratic governance? We welcome proposals from scholars at all stages of the profession and appreciate proposals that include scholars from varied career levels.

Division Chair(s): Ayten Gundogdu, Barnard College and Cigdem Cidam, Union College

The Foundations of Political Theory division welcomes paper, panel, and roundtable proposals from scholars across all ranks working in all areas of our field. Building on this year’s theme “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,” we are particularly interested in proposals that investigate the ever-increasing threats of democratic retrenchment across the world (e.g., authoritarian populism, racist and xenophobic policies, widening social inequalities, anti-LGBTQ+ laws, attacks on academic freedom). We are also interested in scholarly work on the worldwide popular struggles in response to these threats and the ways in which democratic institutions and practices are reimagined in and through such struggles. What kinds of resources does the field of political theory provide for understanding such problems and struggles? How do we rethink key political concepts such as equality, freedom, justice, power, citizenship, and representation in response to these contemporary challenges? What are the democratic potentials and risks involved in experimentations such as citizen assemblies, mobilizing digital technologies for organizational purposes, and reclaiming indigenous political practices? How can higher education institutions withstand increasing political limitations imposed on them while also finding ways to participate in the construction of a 21st-century infrastructure of civic education? We particularly encourage papers and panels that throw light on issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability, and we are especially interested in work by those historically underrepresented in our field. We are committed to promoting intellectual exchange across theoretical and methodological approaches, time periods, textual traditions, and geographical regions and invite panel proposals organized around this sort of dialogue. We welcome proposals from scholars at all stages of the profession and also appreciate panel proposals that include scholars from across the ranks.

Division Chair(s): Jeffrey Lenowitz, Brandeis University

The Normative Theory Division welcomes papers and panel proposals that address classic and contemporary problems in normative political theory and philosophy. We are especially open, but not limited, to submissions that connect with this year’s conference theme: “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” These might concern topics such as democratic rights and obligations, the evaluation, maintenance, and redesign of democratic institutions and decision-making processes, political legitimacy, accountability, elite capture and corruption, inequality, militant democracy, and more. We encourage proposals from a variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives, from scholars at every career stage, and are especially interested in submissions from those who have been historically underrepresented in our field.

Division Chair(s): Sergio Ascencio, University of Essex and Giovanna Invernizzi, Duke University

The Formal Political Theory division welcomes paper, poster and panel proposals that use or draw on formal theory to study political questions. We especially encourage substantively cohesive panel proposals, papers with ties to other subfields, and papers or panel proposals that relate to the theme of the 2024 APSA Meeting: “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” This call is meant to be as inclusive as possible on several dimensions. We aim to put together a program with a wide range of substantive applications, types of formal theory (game theory, social choice theory, computational modeling, behavioral modeling), and combinations of formal theory with other methodologies. We also encourage panel proposals which bring together theoretical and empirical papers on the same topic.

Division Chair(s): Jacob Lewis, Washington State University and Kris-Stella Trump, University of Memphis

We welcome paper, panel, and roundtable proposals that address core questions in political psychology from the perspective of both basic and applied research. In keeping with the major theme of the conference, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation & Reimagination,” we are particularly interested in work that addresses democratic dynamics (interpreted broadly, including decision-making and public opinion in non-democratic regimes). This would include scholarship that addresses the three democratic dynamics of retrenchment, renovation, and/or reimagination. As always, we look forward to receiving proposals that explore the psychology of individuals and groups, social cohesion and trust, radicalization and misinformation, nationalism, conflict resolution, and other such issues. Additionally, we are interested in providing a forum for high-quality feedback for scholars who would otherwise have a hard time accessing it, for example graduate students in less well resourced departments and scholars based at universities in developing countries. To this end, please indicate your interest in this initiative as part of your application (this can be included at the end of the abstract).

Division Chair(s): Nisha Bellinger, Boise State University and Zachary Peskowitz, Emory University

The Political Economy division invites submissions on political economy, broadly defined. We especially welcome submissions that relate to elements of this year’s theme, Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination, through a political economy framework. Under what circumstances are ruling elites able to undermine democratic political institutions and when are these efforts successfully blocked? How do political and economic factors affect the public’s attitudes toward democratic institutions? Do innovative forms of democratic participation and preference aggregation affect which voices are heard in the policymaking process? What policy choices do democratic and authoritarian leaders make to maintain public support at home? We will pay particular attention to proposals for substantively cohesive panels and mini-conferences, as well as paper submissions that highlight the diversity of approaches and topics that have historically characterized this section.

Division Chair(s): Amel Ahmed, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Chloe Nicol Thurston, Northwestern University

The Politics and History Division invites panel and paper submissions on topics related to politics and history from various disciplinary perspectives, including works in and across the fields of comparative politics, American politics, international relations, and political theory. We encourage submissions on topics related to politics and history broadly conceived, including political development, state building, the history of ideas, and international order formation, and also extending to work that is methodological in substance, examining issues of change and continuity, as well as those of conceptualization and measurement. The section particularly encourages submissions that address this year’s theme of Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, and Reimagination, including papers and panels exploring the historical transformation of democratic systems, institutions, and practices in ways that help to orient us towards present challenges. The Division is committed to constructing a program that utilizes APSA’s various formats, including lightning rounds, featured paper panels, and cafes. For full panel submissions, the Division values proposals that maintain and strengthen the Division’s commitments to an inclusive and diverse discipline.

More details coming soon.

Division Chair(s): Erin Richards, Cascadia College and Charles Turner, California State University – Chico

Political science educators must grapple with the challenges posed by contemporary democracy, whether they are teaching within a stable democratic system, a volatile one, or a system that critiques the democratic project. We must communicate the benefits, risks, and fragility of a system our students may see as inevitable or unassailable. And we must encourage future leaders and citizens to find creative solutions for overcoming the ideological chasms that threaten greater equalities and effective governance. Indeed, it is unlikely a democracy can survive and thrive without an educated citizenry, and political science education is an effective tool to achieve this goal. Our division seeks papers that will assist political science educators in building a civic education system that can confront these challenges. We invite papers that explore the role educators can play in encouraging democratic innovation and participation. We welcome diversity of approach and disciplinary lenses from a wide-range of teachers and researchers. While papers on other aspects of political science education will be considered, we especially invite submissions focused on navigating the retrenchment, renovation, and reimagination of democracy in this challenging political moment.

Division Chair(s): Susan Whiting, University of Washington and Graeme Robertson, University of North Carolina

The Comparative Politics section invites submissions that examine any aspect of comparative politics. We seek proposals that pose important substantive questions and provide answers that make compelling theoretical and empirical contributions. Submissions may focus on any substantive area of comparative politics. However, in keeping with this year’s conference theme, we are particularly interested in submissions related to democracy, democratic institutions and the challenge from authoritarianism. We welcome submissions that examine single countries as well as those making regional and cross-national comparisons. In keeping with APSA’s goals of respect for diversity, equity, inclusion and access, we welcome proposals that feature a wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches. We strongly encourage cohesive panel proposals, especially those that bring together diverse groups of scholars.

Division Chair(s): Candelaria Garay, Harvard University and Niloufer Siddiqui, University at Albany

The Comparative Politics of Developing Countries Division welcomes paper and panel proposals focused on the politics of low- and middle-income countries. We seek proposals that pose important substantive questions and provide answers that make compelling theoretical and empirical contributions to our understanding of low-and middle-income countries. Submissions may focus on any substantive area of comparative politics, and we especially encourage submissions related to the annual meeting’s theme: “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” We encourage substantively cohesive panel proposals and welcome research based on a diversity of methodological and disciplinary approaches and that brings together diverse groups of scholars. We particularly welcome scholarship that engages and is accessible to broad public audiences outside of the academy.

Division Chair(s): Lynette Ong, University of Toronto and Lenka Bustikova, University of Florida

Division 13, Politics of Communist and Former Communist Countries, invites submissions that contribute to the study of communist and former communist countries. We encourage substantively cohesive panel proposals and papers that relate to the theme of the 2024 APSA Meeting: “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” We welcome well-organized panel proposals and other formats such as roundtables and author-meets-critics sessions that bring together scholars diverse in theoretical and methodological approaches, gender, rank, and nationality, including scholars in these regions. We invite panels and papers that speak both to democratic decay (retrenchment) as well as sources and evidence of democratic resilience (renovation and reimagination). With respect to autocratic regimes, we welcome papers and panels that study autocratic resilience, regime fragility, or the transition between the two extremes. We welcome papers that examine single-country case studies or cross-country comparison of communist or former communist states as long as they are theoretically grounded and empirically sound. 

Division Chair(s): Kyriaki Nanou, Durham University and Carolina Plescia, University of Vienna

The section welcomes proposals on a wide range of topics related to the study of advanced industrial societies such as contemporary challenges to government institutions, political processes, political parties and their role in contemporary democracy, and public policies. We encourage a diversity of empirical approaches: comparative and single-country, descriptive and causal, and quantitative and qualitative analyses. We encourage proposals from women, people of color, non-binary, and early-career scholars. Our objective is to create high-quality panels that are inclusive but also balanced and diverse. We encourage those who want to submit complete panels to have this in mind when they select papers, discussants and chairs. In accordance with this year’s theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination”, we welcome papers that engage with emerging themes and innovative approaches on the perils and promises of the democratic project over time. This includes examining key phenomena to provide theoretical and evidence-based insight into backsliding, and renovating institutions and their impact upon governing institutions, public opinion, political processes such as elections and referendums, political parties, and public policies, including how it links to phenomena such as authoritarian populism, and the demand for democratic innovations. Papers could also address how political actors and institutions respond to and take measures to counter the effects of polarization and retrenchments in advanced industrial societies.

Division Chair(s): Sara Wallace Goodman, UC Irvine

While democracy across Europe is generally strong, it continues to face serious challenges. Several states exhibit democratic backsliding, which includes undermining democracy principles, the erosion of democratic norms, and the weakening of democratic institutions. Overt disregard of the rule of law, in relation to judicial independence and corruption, is particularly concerning. Populist movements now appear to be a perennial feature of national politics in most states, gaining footholds and, sometimes, governing roles, by campaigning on issues that range from the Euroskeptic and the anti-establishment to the nativist and nationalist. European states have also experienced polarization in recent years. This can lead to challenges in forming stable majority governments and can hinder consensus-building on critical issues. And, finally, the European Union has played a complicit role in the backsliding of democracy, enabling member states by turning a blind eye. This call for proposals to the European Politics & Society Section of the APSA invites contributions that consider causes and consequences for retrenchment but also avenues toward democratic renovation. What institutional, political, or social interventions might counteract democratic decline? The section welcomes paper proposals and inclusive panels that incorporate a diversity of approaches and contributors, as well as attention to the important variation that comprises Europe, from levels of analysis (from the city to the supranational) to geography (Eastern and Western Europe, Northern and Southern Europe).

Division Chair(s): Clara Park, Duke University, and Jonas Gamso, Arizona State University

The section on International Political Economy welcomes proposals for papers, panels, and roundtables on a broad range of topics, including but not limited to, trade, finance, taxation, money, migration, international development, or international environmental issues. We are particularly interested in submissions that relate to the meeting theme: Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination. We encourage proposals that reflect a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives and interdisciplinarity. We welcome contributions and engagement from scholars with diverse research backgrounds. We also encourage panel proposals that bring together scholars from within and across subfields and disciplines.

Division Chair(s): Randall Henning, American University and Marina Henke, Hertie School

Our section defines “International Collaboration” as attempts by states and non-state actors to craft joint solutions to international challenges. This includes alliances, collective security organizations, and peacekeeping missions; development assistance and trade and financial cooperation; protection of human rights and the environment; and development of international law and courts. We are also interested in how and why international institutions in similar issue areas collaborate among themselves, or fail to do so. We invite proposals in all of these areas — especially proposals that address democracies’ international collaboration, collaboration’s impact on the quality, resilience and restoration of democracy, and the challenges that collaboration pose to democracies. Our section is committed to promoting demographic, substantive, intellectual, pedagogical, methodological, and institutional diversity.

Division Chair(s): Nola Haynes, Georgetown University and Stephen Grenier, Johns Hopkins University

The 2024 APSA Annual Meeting theme – Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination – is an opportunity to examine challenges to political, economic, cultural, and social norms. These developments offer exciting opportunities for research. Division 19, International Security, welcomes individual paper, panel, and roundtable proposals on conflict and security issues, broadly defined. These topics include but are not limited to coercion; deterrence; alliances and security institutions; civil-military relations; gender, ethnicity, and culture; international development; terrorism; war and peace causation; information warfare; transnational organized crime; proliferation; civil and regional war; nuclear weapons; terrorism; polarity; insurgency; peace operations; arms control; intelligence; and the changing character of war. Recognizing that international security encompasses a diverse collection of academic disciplines, proposals that utilize interdisciplinary theoretical or methodological approaches will be favored.

Panel proposals should include five (5) presenters, two discussants, and a chair. This format will support the section’s goal of maximizing the number of people who can participate in the conference and creates opportunities for junior scholars to gain valuable experience serving in a panel leadership position. Ideally, the “discussant team” would include a senior or mid-career scholar who is willing to work with a less experienced colleague to collectively provide feedback to panelists.

Division Chair(s): William Bendix, Dakota State University and Emily Holland, Naval War College

The APSA Foreign Policy section invites paper, panel, and roundtable submissions for the 2024 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. We welcome submissions that investigate the multiple facets of foreign policy decision-making and analysis, and that use a range of theoretical and methodological approaches. Country or regional focus is open. Submissions that incorporate this year’s theme of “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination” are especially welcome. They might propose studies that examine the effects of democratic backsliding, electoral pressures, or populist movements on the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. Submissions that consider other aspects of this year’s theme or that propose to explore other relevant topics of foreign policy analysis are also welcome. The section recognizes the importance of diversity, inclusion, and representation. We encourage submissions from scholars from marginalized and under-represented groups, including but not limited to scholars from the Global South, teaching-oriented institutions, scholars of color, female-identifying and LGBTQA scholars, and early career and non-tenure track scholars.

Division Chair(s): Cyanne Loyle, Pennsylvania State University and Burcu Savun, University of Pittsburgh

The Conflict Processes section invites paper, panel, and roundtable proposals broadly related to the outbreak, prevention, dynamics, and legacies of political conflict. This year’s conference theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,” reflects upon the perils and promises of the democratic project over time. How do we understand democratic backsliding following some of democracies’ greatest advances? How can institutions and practices be renovated to address these threats? How can we reimagine civilian engagement and collective participation in the face of these challenges? Challenges to democracy are particularly salient for conflict processes as they have their roots in noncooperation, violence, and war. Submissions can focus on the connections between democracy and conflict processes at various levels of analysis. For instance, how do polarization and anti-democratic sentiment at the individual level influence the outbreak of different kinds of violence? How can leaders utilize innovations in participatory institutions to mitigate conflict? How do waves of autocratization interact with global shifts in technology to shape conflict onset and termination? We welcome proposals from a broad array of theoretical and empirical approaches that are focused on increasing our understanding of conflict processes.

Division Chair(s): Jennifer Garcia, Oberlin College and Max Goplerud, University of Pittsburgh

The Legislative Studies Division welcomes paper, panel, and roundtable proposals on a wide range of topics related to legislatures at any level of government (national, subnational, supranational) in any country or region in the world—including the United States. Research advancing new theories, producing or analyzing original data, or employing innovative methods are especially welcome. Proposals addressing the conference’s core theme of “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination” are encouraged, but we welcome any compelling proposals. Proposals for substantively cohesive panels and roundtables are also welcomed. We especially encourage submissions from women, scholars of color, and other underrepresented groups and recommend to those submitting panel proposals to include panelists from diverse backgrounds.

Division Chair(s): Amnon Cavari, Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy Interdisciplinary Center (IDC)

In recent years, the world is witnessing a worsening wave of global democratic backsliding, with a growing number of established and new democracies experiencing decline or actual breakdown. What is the role of executives in precipitating or accelerating this wave of democratic backsliding? Are executives responding to or taking advantage of a growing wave of populist sentiments to aggrandize executive power over democratic institutions? The Presidents and Executive Politics (PEP) section welcomes proposals that take up the conference theme of “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,” with a specific interest in the role of executives in the alarming process of democratic backsliding as well as the ability and function of institutional and political checks on executive aggrandizement around the world. We also welcome papers and panel submissions that explore enduring questions surrounding executive power related to interbranch relations, public policy, communications, public opinion, and electoral politics. We are particularly interested in proposals that comparatively address executive power and utilize diverse theoretical and methodological approaches. PEP will provide a limited number of travel grants to graduate students and junior scholars, and will organize a mentoring program for junior scholars.

Division Chair(s): James Wright, Florida State University

The organizers of this year’s conference seek to understand the perils and promises that are associated with democracy. They seek to theorize on how institutions and practices shift and alter throughout history. Within the study of public administration, understanding how institutions and practices manifest in the everyday lives of citizens and civilians is at the forefront of the discussion. Public administration has always been keenly concerned with how institutions take shape all the way from their inception to the action (or inaction) they take to both promote democracy and be responsive to citizen’s needs. From a purely theoretical perspective, public administration has sought to study institutions and institutional design from at least three levels. The first is the macro level of institutional study that seeks to explore how these institutions adapt and respond to other institutions whether at the national or international level. The meso level study of institutions tends to identify how citizens and civilians form groups and respond to the pressures of these institutions. Finally at a micro level the study of institutions is concerned with how individuals navigate and assimilate into these larger institutions. This year’s themes real potential lies in understanding the role that managers in these institutions play in reinforcing or subverting democracy. From examples of police agents of the state going “rogue” and infringing upon individuals’ rights to welfare case managers going the extra mile to help individuals receive benefits, democracy is always at play. For the 2024 annual meeting, the public administration section invites papers and panel proposals geared at understanding these big institutional dynamics and malleable changes to democracy. Authors are encouraged to push the bounds of what is known by questioning prevailing notions of best practices from the discipline. As always, we seek proposals that are theoretically grounded and methodologically robust and, of course, encourage those that borrow from disciplines and approaches far afield from the “traditional” study of public administration.

Division Chair(s): Hongtao Yi, Florida State University

The Public Policy section serves a diverse community of public policy scholars. The section welcomes proposals addressing the political, institutional, and/or administrative dynamics surrounding the policymaking process. These submissions could examine agenda setting, policy development and change, policy feedback, policy diffusion, historical and comparative perspectives on policy, policy design and tools, policy networks, conflict and collaboration in policy making, and many more. Proposals addressing this year’s conference theme –Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination—are particularly welcome. How to understand the dynamics of the public policy process in the backsliding of democracy? What are the roles of public policies in identifying and meeting threats to democracy? How to reimagine public policies that renovate democratic institutions and practices? What are the recent policy innovations in healthcare, education, welfare, and climate policies, and how do they affect the political environment? The Public Policy section welcomes contributions from all methodological and theoretical perspectives. We welcome diversity in research approach and interdisciplinarity from researchers from different backgrounds, to enhance inclusion and access throughout the profession. While individual paper proposals are welcome, we strongly encourage well-organized panel proposals.

Division Chair(s): Jennifer Bowie, University of Richmond and Alyx Mark, Wesleyan University

The Law and Courts section invites proposals for the APSA 2024 Annual Meeting. Our aim is to develop a set of panels that represent the breadth of our field in terms of subject, approach, methodology, data, and/or presentation, while also welcoming a diversity of approaches and interdisciplinarity from a wide-ranging collection of researchers. We especially encourage proposals connecting Law and Courts with this year’s APSA theme of “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, and Reimagination.” Such proposals might shed light on the pivotal role law and courts can play in safeguarding democratic institutions and practices, revitalizing existing systems, and envisioning novel mechanisms for increasing public participation in decision-making. APSA offers a variety of presentation formats, and we welcome proposals that take advantage of these different options. Proposals that clearly and concisely articulate the project and research question are most appreciated. We look forward to developing a robust slate of panels highlighting the intellectual efforts of a wide range of scholars.

Division Chair(s): Jason Pierceson, University of Illinois-Springfield and Joanna Wuest, Mount Holyoke

Division Chair(s): Craig Volden, University of Virginia

The Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations Section invites proposals (for individual papers, complete panels, roundtables, and author-meets-critics sessions, as well as new formats) that promote a deeper understanding of politics and/or policy in federal systems around the world. In line with the conference theme, we are particularly interested in work on how federalism might serve to undergird democracy. We welcome studies from different theoretical, empirical, and methodological perspectives, including interdisciplinary approaches and mixed-methods research. We also welcome proposals from individuals with various racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual identities, as well as from various institutions, professions, disciplines, and career stages.

Division Chair(s): Kevin Reuning, Miami University

In line with the 2024 APSA theme, the State Politics and Policy division calls for proposals that embrace states as “laboratories of democracy” to better understand the perils and promises of democracy. How have states catalyzed or impeded democratic backsliding? What can we learn from state experiments with democratic institutions and processes? How have states responded to changes in democratic norms and rules at the national or local level? How do these changes shape policy outcomes? In answering these questions we are especially interested in research that examines how racial, gender, sexual, and class inequities shape state-level politics. We encourage proposals from researchers using a diverse set of methodological approaches as well as researchers from a range of institutions and career stages.

Division Chair(s): Annika Hinze, Fordham University and Jamie Smith, Indiana University

The Urban and Local Politics section invites proposals illuminating the many ways in which local institutions and processes enhance, or limit, democratic evolution. While city governments are often described as a manifestation of democratic accessibility because of their proximity to citizens, studies of local and urban governance have long demonstrated the potential for bias in urban policy making resulting from certain groups’ disproportionate access to decision-makers and the policymaking process. In the U.S., this may relate to local governments’ dependent position as the lowest rung on the three-tiered federal structure, but it also relates to the limited fiscal powers bestowed upon cities in state or sub national charters. Many municipalities interested in implementing meaningful change lack the power and the resources for implementation, limited by lack of federal funding, or federal and state institutions curtailing their decision-making, while others have experienced backsliding, seriously curtailing the rights of already disadvantaged groups. We seek proposals that engage current urban and local issues, such as governance challenges from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, racial and socio-economic injustice, gender- and LGBTQIA-related violence and inequity, police violence, migrant and refugee crises, the challenge of climate change, political polarization, inflation, and transportation. We are particularly interested in papers that explore the impact of institutional design on local citizen engagement across multiple national settings, as well as those that underscore the role of local institutions as harbingers for democratic adaptation, or show the limitations of local government, or the particular challenges they face. We welcome proposals from a vast array of positions, especially those that remain underrepresented in the discipline. Proposals building on different methodological approaches, such as quantitative, ethnographic, qualitative, multi-method, or theoretical and interdisciplinary are encouraged. The Section will accept proposals for papers, full panels, lightning rounds, roundtables, author-meets-critics, and short courses. For those submitting complete panels, roundtables, or author-meets-critics proposals, please be sure to submit a chair and at least one discussant for all panel proposals and where possible highlight how the proposed session connects with the theme of “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.”

Division Chair(s): Andrea Aldrich, Yale University and Kristen Williams, Clark University

The Women, Gender and Politics Section invites proposals that engage with themes of women, gender, and intersectionality across the fields of American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, and research methods. We are especially interested in proposals that use a feminist perspective or feminist methodologies, and work that reaches beyond the binary gender paradigm to address the conference theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” Authoritarianism and political polarization, and restrictions on voting rights and access, for example, are evidence of democracy’s retrenchment and backsliding. These and other significant challenges to democratic institutions are occurring around the world and gender scholars can offer unique theoretical and empirical contributions to our understanding of the themes related to this year’s conference. Papers might address the challenges to democratic institutions that are impacting women’s representation in formal political spaces as well as gender gaps in political participation at the local, state, and regional levels. Papers might explore how diverse representation can further the renovation and reimagination of a healthy democracy or examine how sex, gender, and sexuality are increasingly the target of legislation that threatens citizens’ rights, and how local movements are responding to those threats. We highly encourage submissions exploring how gender intersects with other identities, including class, ethnicity, race, religion, sexuality, physical and intellectual ability, national identity, family status, and carework to contribute to efforts for the renovation and reimagination of democracy. That said, papers need not directly engage the conference theme; we welcome the full range of original contributions. Given APSA’s goals of increasing diversity, inclusion, and access throughout the profession, we encourage a diversity of approach and interdisciplinarity from a wide-ranging group of researchers. We encourage paper submissions and organized panel submissions. Panel submissions must include at least four papers, a panel chair, and a discussant. Where appropriate, the program co-chairs may add additional papers to these panels. We ask that all faculty members submitting proposals also volunteer to serve either as panel chairs and/or as discussants. We encourage proposals for all available formats. Please submit all proposals to a second APSA section to allow us the opportunity to co-sponsor panels.

Division Chair(s): Nazita Lajevardi, Michigan State University and Christine Slaughter, Boston University

The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics (REP) Division invites paper and full panel proposals for the 2024 Annual Meeting. We are interested in proposals that address how research in racial and ethnic politics illuminates the conference theme “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination”. Democracies, in their ideal forms, promise equal rights and outcomes (e.g., health, education, employment, security, life scope choices) to all citizens. But, as scholars of race and ethnic politics, we understand that democracies are predicated on the exclusion and marginalization of minoritized people. How has the field of race and ethnic politics made such paradoxes apparent, while reimagining a new democratic and inclusive future? What strides have people of all racial stripes — including Black, Latina/o/x, Indigenous, Asian, MENA, multiracial, and White — endeavored to preserve Democracy? In what ways has Democracy, in practice and in turn, failed them? How have politics varied across and within racial and ethnic minority groups? How are the boundaries of group membership contested? Beyond the United States, how are racial politics, racial hierarchies and racial inequities shaping the political representation, behaviors, attitudes and consciousness of citizens and non-citizens? What informal and formal strategies do minoritized groups employ to meet the demands and shortcomings of Democracy? What possibilities exist for cross-racial solidarity and coalition-building against backsliding and unrepresentative governments? How is a deeply broken democracy, renovated? As REP scholars, our voices, scholarship, and empirical research are needed. We seek proposals that will deepen our understanding of the ways in which race and ethnicity influence political realities throughout the world, as well as in the United States. We encourage paper submissions, author-meets-critics, roundtable, workshop and organized panel submissions. Panel submissions must include at least four papers, two discussants and a panel chair. Where appropriate, the program co-chairs may add papers to these panels. We will seek co-sponsorships with other divisions, where substantively and methodologically appropriate. While recently published REP scholarship is quantitative, we are also interested in qualitative, mixed methods, and theoretical approaches that reimagine, and refresh, and reinvigorate existing questions in race, ethnicity and politics. Race, Ethnicity and Politics crosscuts American politics, comparative politics, political theory, and international relations. We encourage and welcome a diversity of methodological approaches, scholarly collaborations, and interdisciplinarity from a wide-ranging collection of researchers.

Division Chair(s): Nora Fisher Onar, University of San Francisco and Jacob Neiheisel, University of Buffalo

The Religion and Politics Section invites scholars to submit papers, panels, posters, and other session formats on themes that connect religion and politics writ large. Understanding the role of religion in a democratic system is of great importance, including but not limited to investigations surrounding the compatibility of religious practices and beliefs with core democratic principles such as tolerance and pluralism. At the same time, the role of religious politics / ideologies in a wide range of political systems is crucial to making sense of today’s world and the present populist moment. In keeping with the 2024 APSA Theme “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,” the Religion and Politics Section thus seeks contributions that examine the many ways religion intersects with the emergence and practice of democracy around the globe. We further invite discussion of the role of religion and politics scholars and educators in promoting democracy and pluralism through their research, teaching, and public engagement. We invite a diversity of methodological, theoretical and (inter-)disciplinary approaches covering any region or country. We encourage panels that are inclusive of all gender identities, races and ethnicities, academic positions/ranks, and types of institution.

Division Chair(s): David Fortunato, UCSD

The Representation & Electoral Systems section invites submissions that address questions related to Representation, Elections, and Electoral Institutions. We seek proposals that advance our theoretical understanding and/or offer compelling empirical evidence related to these topics. Submissions may focus on any aspect of these broad topical areas. We are also particularly interested in scholarship with a focus on the representation of marginalized groups and strongly encourage cohesive panel proposals, especially those that bring together diverse groups of scholars.

Division Chair(s): Kathleen Marchetti, Dickinson College and Jae-Hee Jung, University of Houston

The Political Organizations and Parties (POP) division invites submissions in the form of individual papers, complete panels, and alternative formats (e.g., roundtables, Author Meets Critics, lightning rounds, 30-minute paper presentations). We welcome proposals related to political organizations and parties in a range of contexts including electoral, legislative, bureaucratic, or judicial, among others. In keeping with this year’s conference theme “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination”, we especially encourage proposals that address the ways in which political parties and organizations might detract from or enhance democratic goals. We welcome submissions that focus on the roles of political parties and organizations within democracies past, present, and future. Parties and organizations have the power to influence the mass public, political processes, and outcomes in critical ways. Submissions could address questions such as how parties – new or old – shape the democratic features of elections and mass behavior; how interest groups affect representation and responsiveness to public interest within democratic systems; or how grassroots movements can turn the tide of political decision-making either for the better or for the worse. How have political parties and organizations contributed to democratic backsliding (e.g., through polarization or unequal access to and influence over policymakers)? In what ways might these groups change (e.g., via electoral reforms or organizational regulations) to better meet democratic ideals? Have emergent technologies shaped political parties and organizations in ways that further democracy (e.g., through easier mobilization of underrepresented groups)? The division embraces diversity in research topic and methodological approach. We particularly welcome proposals from scholars who are underrepresented within the discipline.

Division Chair(s): Elizabeth Simas, University of Houston

The section welcomes proposals on a wide range of topics related to elections and voting behavior across different political systems and contexts: on political participation, electoral politics and vote choice, polling and forecasting, political party competition, and campaigns. In keeping with this year’s theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,” we encourage proposals on threats to electoral integrity, democratic inclusion, and voting rights — what are the biggest challenges to our democratic processes and how can actors and institutions adapt and innovate to address them? The section welcomes research from any national or comparative perspective, that is descriptive or causal, and that employs quantitative or qualitative methods. In line with APSA’s goals of increasing diversity, inclusion, and access throughout the profession, the section welcomes diversity of approach and interdisciplinarity from a wide-ranging collection of researchers. Any full panel proposals should keep this commitment in mind and be structured so as to facilitate the broadening of professional networks. (Note that proposals focused on public opinion should be directed to Division 37.)

Division Chair(s): Kevin Mullinix, University of Kansas and David Ciuk, Franklin and Marshall

The Public Opinion Division invites innovative proposals related to public opinion research. This includes, but is not restricted to, research on micro- or macro-level public opinion dynamics, elite communication and its effects on the mass public, the relationship between political institutions and mass opinion, and the role of public opinion in the political system. In keeping with this year’s theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,” we strongly encourage public opinion proposals related to democratic backsliding, threats to democracy, renovating institutions, and democratic innovations. Our division welcomes proposals across our subfield’s theoretical perspectives (i.e., micro-level theories of opinion formation, macro-level theories of opinion change and policy responsiveness, etc.) and methodological approaches (i.e., quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method). In line with APSA’s goals of increasing diversity, inclusion, and access throughout the profession, the section welcomes diversity of approach and interdisciplinarity from researchers from different subfields of political science, with different backgrounds and expertise, and at different career levels.

Division Chair(s): Babak Bahador, George Washington University

Political communication is at the heart of democracy. It can help enhance democracy through greater deliberation, representation, and accountability, creating more open and transparent societies. Well-functioning democracies bring many benefits to citizens and can increase equality, rights, and security, amongst other advantages. However, political communication can also contribute to democratic backsliding when autocratic forces work with surrogate media organizations and use manipulative communication tactics to promote outrage narratives, disinformation and hate in order to consolidate power. This year’s conference theme is titled “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination” and aims to examine the perils and promises of the democratic project. While the new changing media and communication environment of recent decades is often blamed for democratic retrenchment, it also provides opportunities for renovation and the reimagination of democracy. Due to their focus, political communication scholars can play a leading role in explaining both the status quo and possibilities for democratic renewal and change. Given the APSA’s goals of increasing diversity, equity, inclusion and access throughout the profession, the Political Communication section especially welcomes diverse theoretical and methodological approaches and interdisciplinary work from scholars with a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds. We invite papers, panels, and roundtable submissions that are theoretically grounded and methodologically rigorous. Proposals should not exceed one single-spaced page in length and should clearly state research questions, theoretical structure, methodological approach, and overall implications for the field of political communication.

Division Chair(s): Matthew Nowlin, College of Charleston

The 2024 APSA Annual Conference theme addresses a vital and growing concern: “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” Scholars of science, technology, and environmental politics have long noted the tensions between expertise and expert-driven policymaking, and democratic accountability. Public and political resistance to science and expertise regarding issues like climate change, COVID-19, and vaccines, among others, demonstrate the need to have a better understanding of how best to incorporate expertise within democratic policymaking. In addition, these issues are creating acute and chronic crises that are likely to further strain democratic institutions. In line with this theme, the Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics (STEP) division of APSA welcomes proposals for papers, panels, and roundtables that examine democratic decision-making and accountability within the context of scientific, technological, and environmental issues. In particular, we welcome proposals that investigate the renovation and strengthening of democracy within existing governance structures as well as the reimagination of democracy and participatory approaches that may alter current governance structures. We also encourage proposals that explore ways to make political and social systems resilient to environmental, and other hazards. The STEP division respects ontological, epistemological, theoretical, and methodological diversity and recognizes the value of interdisciplinary research. We strongly encourage researchers from historically underrepresented groups, broadly construed, to submit their proposals. We also welcome a broad range of theoretically rich and methodologically robust proposals beyond the conference theme pertaining to STEP issues.

Division Chair(s): Patricia Rossini, University of Glasgow

APSA 2024 ITP Call for Papers:

What is the role of technology in enhancing—or hindering—democracy? The Information Technology & Politics (ITP) section invites paper, panel, and roundtable proposals relating to research on any forms of political activity revolving around, or shaped by, digital media and information technologies, broadly construed. We particularly encourage proposals connecting to the APSA 2024 theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination”. The stability of democracies across the world has been challenged in the past decade, calling for a renewed understanding of the democratic project. Digital technologies have been at the forefront of this challenge—after some decades of positive impact, through campaigning, activism, and protests, we currently navigate the ‘dark side’ of the ubiquitous use of digital media: mis- and disinformation, harassing and hateful speech, as well as an increasing instrumentalization of digital affordances to threaten elections and undermine democratic institutions. The ITP section welcomes proposals that tackle questions centered around, but by no means limited to, these issues:

• What opportunities and/or challenges do information technologies pose to democracies? • How does the rise of AI applications and large language models facilitate, or challenge, the advancement of democratic goals?
• What have political organizations such as campaigns, activist networks, and local and national governments learned from using digital technologies?
• What is the role of information technology in spreading or countering misinformation and false information about politics, relevant social issues, and elections across different political and cultural systems? • How are calls for more regulation and changes in internet governance reshaping digital politics, both nationally and internationally?
• How can technology contribute to democratic renovation—including, but not limited to, fostering more representative and inclusive participation, contributing to strengthen democratic institutions?
• How can technology contribute to democratic decline—including, but not limited to, increasing polarization, endangering minorities, undermining participation and inclusion?
• How are digital technologies being used to challenge (or enable?) power in authoritarian countries and contexts?
The ITP section embraces a wide variety of methods and welcomes proposals informed by quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research designs, as well as innovative and interdisciplinary approaches. Ambitious proposals that blend theoretical significance with empirical and methodological detail are particularly encouraged.

Division Chair(s): Elizabeth Amato, Gardner-Webb University and Alex Cole, Northwestern State University

APSA’s Politics, Literature, and the Arts (PLA) section seeks papers and poster presentations for inclusion in the 120th APSA Annual Meeting held in historic Philadelphia, PA from September 5th – 8th, 2024. In keeping with this meeting’s theme of “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,” the PLA will prioritize papers and posters that address the tensions and opportunities experienced in democratic societies and institutions, as well as ways to address these tensions and realize these opportunities through the arts.

Division Chair(s): Charisse Burden-Stelly, Wayne State University and Chelsea Welker, University of Northern Colorado

The Caucus for Critical Political Science (formerly New Political Science) is pleased to announce the call for papers for the 120th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from September 5-8, 2024. The Caucus invites you to submit full panels and papers that speak to the mission of Critical Political Science to make the study of politics relevant to the struggle for a better world. Submissions that engage the general conference theme of “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination” from a wide range of theoretical, methodological, epistemological, and underrepresented perspectives are especially encouraged. In recent years, questions of democracy and democratization have arisen as countries from Russia to China, Mali to Venezuela, appear to pursue political paths that challenge the hegemony of Western liberal democracies. And, within the latter, the rise of far right, Christo-fascist, and illiberal movements also call into question the future of the democratic project. To this can be added increased experimentation with, and interest in, leftwing and anticapitalist forms of governance and organizing that reject the conflation of capitalism and democracy. Moreover, from the United States to Uganda, the attack on democracy is inextricable from the rollback of women’s reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, increased social and economic inequality, and political polarization, on the one hand, and the historic fightback against the erosion of voting rights, racial and gender inequities, and worsening labor and working conditions, on the other hand. Submissions that engage these complex and contentious realities, especially as they relate to capitalism and its alternatives; indigenous and non-Western knowledge production; and local, national, and global articulations are strongly welcomed. The Caucus for Critical Political Science remains committed to all forms of social, racial, and environmental justice and encourages perspectives from individuals of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, nationalities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and gender expressions, as well as diverse career trajectories. We encourage a range of participation in this year’s conference, not least graduate students, junior scholars, contingent faculty, scholar-activists, and established academics. Though proposals are not required to speak directly to the conference theme, the Caucus encourages a deep engagement with it, as we firmly believe that addressing the issue of democracy, whether theoretically, philosophically, empirically, and/or analytically, is part of the historical task of political science as a discipline. Submissions from all subfields of political science and theory, as well as interdisciplinary perspectives, related to the advancement of Critical Political Science will be considered. To apply, please review the full submission guidelines outlined by APSA and make sure to select Section 42. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Division Chair(s): Richard Maass, Old Dominion University and Catherine Lu, McGill University

The International History and Politics section invites paper, panel, and roundtable proposals that aim to understand contemporary problems, puzzles, and processes in world politics through the study of history. Open to diverse and interdisciplinary approaches, the section welcomes proposals that employ historical methods, including, for example, archival research, oral history, case studies, and historiographical research in the study of world politics. The APSA 2024 theme highlights democratic regression and the need to renovate and reimagine democratic institutions to meet current challenges. Studies in international history can shed light on path-dependent historical processes that generated contemporary social and political systems; structures, distributions, and cultures that remain embedded despite shifting public attitudes; and visions for sociopolitical order that defy conventional modern imaginations. The section welcomes proposals that draw upon non-traditional historical eras, regions, and actors in developing new answers to pressing questions.

Division Chair(s): Danny Choi, Brown University and Mashail Malik, Harvard University

The Democracy & Autocracy Division seeks submissions that address fundamental theoretical and empirical questions relevant to the study of democratization, democratic erosion, democracy, and autocracy. These questions include, but are not limited to, those pertaining to theoretical discussions of democratization and democracy; the role of institutions, social identities, the state, and non-state actors in transitions to and from democracy; authoritarian politics, institutions, and durability; and broader themes pertinent to political change. We are especially interested in proposals that engage with this year’s conference theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” The division welcomes papers and panels covering any region or country, including the United States, and we welcome single-country studies as well as comparative work. We welcome submissions with a range of methodological approaches and from scholars from diverse backgrounds, ranks, and academic institutions, and whose work focuses on different world regions. We especially encourage submissions of substantively cohesive organized panels and other organized session formats.

Division Chair(s): Mneesha Gellman, Emerson College and Gary Uzonyi, U. Tennessee, Knoxville

In line with APSA’s general theme for 2024, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,” APSA Division 45: Human Rights focuses our call for papers on the theme of “Human Rights in a World of Shifting Institutions.” Democracies are not the only sets of governance institutions that are undergoing retrenchment, renovation, and reimagination. Such changes are occurring domestically in non-democratic countries, internationally among inter- and supra- national institutions, and among non-state actors who govern as well. As institutions shift, gaps in human rights protections may open and similar or additional groups of people may be left out of the evolving system of governance.

We are in a period in which some governments are deliberating weakening checks on their power and harming the rights of people in their countries. The news brings myriad stories of human rights concerns from across varied context. For example, in Bolivia, the government continues to interfere in the right to a free and fair trial. In Brazil, the police continue excessive use of force throughout marginalized communities. In India, the government continues to place an increasing number of restrictions on civil society organization. In the Philippines, the detention, harassment, killing of human rights defenders is on the incline. In Poland, LGBTI people’s rights continue to be curtained despite pressure from the European Commission. And in the United States, migrant and refugee rights continue to be ignored along the U.S.-Mexico border, sexual and reproductive rights have been undermined by the US Supreme Court and several state legislatures, LGBTI rights continue to be threatened, and police continue to use excessive force. Cases like these demonstrate retrenchment and cry out for renovation and reimagination in addressing human rights issues.

The Human Rights Division is interested in papers that address a range of issues connected to the connection between the abuse, protection, or understanding of human rights and the shifting of institutions. For example, works that address polarization and human rights protections; that push us to examine informal social structures influence the abuse or protection of vulnerable populations; that inquire as to the parameters of the reinforcing nature of various rights; and that investigate how a realignment of global power interests may influence human rights protections at the global level are all encouraged. It is important to note that governments and state-based organizations are not the only agents of human rights abuse or protection. We also encourage work that considers the role of non-state actors in understanding these important processes. This section takes a broad approach to themes considered parts of human rights. We welcome a diversity of approaches to the study of human rights and interdisciplinarity from a wide-ranging collection of researchers.

Division Chair(s): Ben Smith, University of Florida and Adrienne LeBas, American University

The Qualitative and Multi-method Research Section seeks proposals for the 2024 annual meeting. We seek proposals to present new research employing innovative new qualitative strategies and ones directly engaging the conference theme of democratic retrenchment, renovation, and reimagination. Some possibilities include new approaches to temporality in democracy studies, qualitative strategies for exploring mis- and disinformation, and projects that address state use of mis- and disinformation. Submissions may be methodological or substantive; substantive papers should emphasize how they innovatively harness qualitative or mixed methods. We welcome pre-organized panel proposals, and we encourage prospective authors and panel organizers made up of a diverse set of scholars, especially from historically underrepresented groups.

Division Chair(s): Libby Sharrow, University of Massachusetts and Scott Nicholas Siegel, San Francisco State University

The Sexuality and Politics Division invites papers and panel proposals that connect with the Annual Conference’s Theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, and Reimagination.” Human rights violations of gender and sexual minorities are often harbingers of democratic backsliding. At the same time, institutional reform of the infrastructure of established democracies may be needed to improve representation of members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Even current conceptions of democracy might need revising to increase democratic accountability to a community with diverse members and identities. The Sexuality and Politics Division welcomes contributions to the 2024 APSA program that address these issues and others related to the conference theme from a range of perspectives and fields of political science. We encourage proposals representing the theoretical, methodological, geographical, and substantive diversity of our subfield. In keeping with APSA’s goals of and respect for diversity, inclusion, and access throughout the profession, we recognize the importance of multiplicity in approach and interdisciplinarity from a wide-ranging group of scholars. The Annual Conference offers many different presentation formats, and we welcome a variety of proposals that take advantage of those options.

Division Chair(s): Julianna Pacheco, University of Iowa and Renu Singh, University of Bocconi

The organized section on Health Politics and Policy invites submissions for the APSA 2024 conference. Proposals may be submitted in the form of individual papers, complete panels of up to four papers, roundtables, and author-meets-critics sessions. In line with the theme of the 2023 Annual Meeting — “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination”— the section welcomes research that uses quantitative or qualitative methods; that focuses on the United States, global, or comparative health politics and policy; that involves case studies or comparative approaches; that studies a range of populations, time periods, and policy venues; and that comes from both senior and junior scholars and graduate students. In keeping with the theme statement – which focuses on the perils and promises of democracy including the effect of democratic threats to equality and health, we seek submissions from a broad range of perspectives on how population health and health equity are related to democratic institutions, practices, and norms. We are particularly interested in connecting with our APSA colleagues and are eager to receive proposals that lend themselves to being “theme” panels. The 2024 theme, and its focus on “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination,” presents fruitful opportunities for interdisciplinary and cross-subfield research as well as community engaged projects. In broad areas of policy, both historical and contemporary, and with attention to global and national health politics and policy, the Health Politics and Policy section is well situated to address the political determinants of health and health policymaking, as well as to discuss the future of population health and health policymaking in the context of democratic backsliding, rising polarization, an increase in misinformation and disinformation, and the movements to reimagine and improve democratic institutions. Panels addressing the conference theme are welcome, and could include (but are not restricted to) research on the following kinds of questions: • How has the relationship between democracy and health changed overtime? • How has a regression in democratic institutions affected health policy and health outcomes? • How is health related to political behavior and public opinion (and vice versa)? • What role do political factors—such as ideology, partisanship, trust in government, and political efficacy—play on health behaviors and outcomes? • How are political inequalities in voter participation and civic engagement related to health disparities across race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status? What is the relationship between social capital, social connectedness, and community engagement on population health and health disparities?•Do communities that operate more democratically—that is, for instance, communities that are better equipped to represent citizens, that have expansive voting practices, that have institutions that increase political accountability of elites, or that have high levels of political incorporation for racial/ethnic minority and immigrant groups—have better health outcomes? Why? What is the mechanism? •What obligations do we have as researchers (ethically, methodologically) when it comes to involving community interests in our work on health and health policymaking?

Division Chair(s): Scott Matthews, Memorial University

The Canadian Politics section invites proposals for individual papers, panels or roundtables on any topic within the study of Canadian politics. We are especially keen for papers relating to the conference theme of “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination”. As one of the smaller divisions within the conference, our section can especially benefit from forming panels on the conference theme, as panels elevated to “theme panel” status do not count against our allocation (thus creating more room for more Canadian politics scholars!). Happily, this year’s theme embraces a host of research topics pertinent for Canadian politics scholars. The theme invites work probing threats to the democratic project (e.g., social inequalities, polarizing media environments), democratic renewal of existing institutions (e.g., constitutional change, electoral reform), and democratic innovations (e.g., citizen assemblies, inclusive social movements). Methodological and theoretical pluralism is welcomed, as are participants from all backgrounds and perspectives.

Division Chair(s): Ted Chen, George Mason University

Political phenomena are fundamentally relational in nature. Political actors virtually never act in isolation, and political attitudes do not exist in vacuums. Any thorough analysis of power and its distributional consequences requires consideration of relationships among individuals, groups, organizations, ideas, and other entities. Taking such interdependence seriously leads naturally to a network perspective. The political networks section invites proposals that entail research explicitly accounting for such interdependence in any domain of political science. Specifically, we invite original work that addresses the relationships among a set of units, be they politicians, countries, voters, organizations, political texts, ideas, or otherwise. Given the centrality of relationships and networks in all aspects of democratic governance, we look forward to proposals engaging with this year’s conference theme on the retrenchment, renovation, and reimagination of the democratic project. We recognize the importance of a diversity of approaches to research and welcome papers making empirical, theoretical, or purely methodological contributions. We encourage single-paper proposals as well as organized proposals for thematic panels, short courses, workshops, and non-traditional formats.

Division Chair(s): Amanda Clayton, Vanderbilt

The Experimental Research section welcomes submissions on a wide range of topics related to the use of experimental research across the fields of comparative politics, international relations, American politics, political theory, and research methods. We also welcome theoretical, methodological, or empirical proposals covering a diverse range of experimental methods, including survey experiments, laboratory experiments, field experiments, lab-in-the-field experiments, and natural experiments, or causal inference reasoning based on naturally occurring data. We encourage submissions that build upon the annual conference theme ““Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” We welcome research on this theme and others. We encourage the submission of cohesive panel proposals. In particular, we are interested in panels that: (a) bring together scholars from multiple subfields, career stages, or institutional type (e.g., R1 and SLAC); (b) integrate different experimental approaches (e.g., survey, field, laboratory) or mix experimental research with qualitative data; (c) include work from scholars at institutions in the Global South; (d) contribute to the debate on the ethics of experimental research; (e) showcase scholar-policymaker partnerships; or (f) seek to replicate past central experimental research. APSA offers many different presentation formats, and we welcome a variety of proposals that take advantage of those options. In accordance with APSA’s objectives of improving diversity, inclusion, and access throughout the profession, we encourage diversity of approach and interdisciplinarity from a wide-ranging group of researchers.

Division Chair(s): Rebecca Hamlin, U Mass Amherst and Michael Sharpe, York College/CUNY

In light of the overall theme for 2024 —the perils and promise of democracy – we especially welcome submissions that theorize and assess how democratic retrenchment, renovation, and re-imagination have affected migration and citizenship broadly constructed. This can include, but is not limited to:

• the rise of populist candidates and their role in anti-immigrant politics

• the immigration politics of quasi-democratic and authoritarian states

• non-citizen participation in democratic politics

• the salience of migration and citizenship issues in democratic electoral politics

• politicization, racialization, and securitization of migration

• the role of international and regional organizations and civil society in migration

• liberalism, illiberalism, privacy, and the rights of migrants

• the impact of information/misinformation on migrant and government behavior in host and home societies

• deportation, removals, voluntary repatriation, return migration

• the tension between concepts of universal human rights and the rights of citizens

We encourage a wide range of submissions from graduate students, junior and senior scholars, from women and scholars of color, and submissions based on research that uses a multiplicity of epistemological, empirical and theoretical approaches. 

Division Chair(s): Peter Lewis, Johns Hopkins University and Azeez Olaniyan, Ekiti State University

The African Politics Conference Group (APCG) invites submissions for proposals that focus on the politics of Africa. We welcome proposals that reflect all areas of inquiry in the study of African politics, as well as a wide range of methodological approaches. We encourage submissions that speak to the theme of the 2024 Annual Meeting, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” This year’s conference theme focuses on the perils and promises of the democratic project over time: how to understand backsliding, defining and meeting threats, renovating institutions and practices, and imagining new ones. We invite proposals that explore the conditions under which democracy erodes or thrives in addition to those that examine the effects of backsliding or consolidation on issues of governance and development. We particularly welcome submissions from groups underrepresented in political science, especially African scholars.

Division Chair(s): Nick Clark, Susquehanna University and Adam Lerner

Division Chair(s): Meghan Condon, Loyola University Chicago and Daniel Laurison, Swarthmore College

Division Chair(s): Emily Pears, Claremont Mckenna and Charles Zug, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

The American Political Thought division invites proposals for individual papers and panels that support the 2024 conference theme, Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, Reimagination. The theme is at the heart of our field, and we invite both those proposing papers and those proposing full panels to consider how their interests and work bear on the theme’s elements. As a subfield that conjoins theoretical, institutional, and cultural research, American Political Thought is uniquely positioned to speak to contemporary challenges facing American democracy. Papers and panels that speak to those challenges through the lenses of the American founding, institutional and constitutional maintenance, and historical experiences of marginalized Americans are therefore especially welcome. All complete panel proposals will be given serious consideration, but the strongest proposals will exhibit a high level of intellectual rigor and feature participants from a diverse range of intellectual approaches and perspectives, career stages, and backgrounds.

Division Chair(s): Allison Spencer Hartnett, University of Southern California and Shamiran Mako, Boston University

Citizens and scholars of the MENA region live and work within the confines of entrenched authoritarianism, punctuated by the rare moments of democratic potential. Our subfield’s central mandate has arguably been to explain the durability of the region’s authoritarian regimes – how they work, who they benefit, and who remains excluded. Over a decade since the first Arab Uprisings, regimes in the MENA have faced mass and elite challenges to their rule, stemming from grievances over deep-seated socio-economic inequities and political exclusion. Regimes, states, and elites have responded to popular uprisings and challenges in various ways – from making symbolic concessions to widespread and targeted repression of dissidents and civil society organizations. Yet the core demand of local and national citizen movements – institutional reform – remains largely unmet. Autocratic retrenchment in MENA is neither surprising nor spontaneous, but rather part of a long history of political struggle to build and control the modern state. In line with this year’s APSA theme on Democracy, Retrenchment, Renovation, and Reimagination, the Middle East and North Africa section welcomes submissions that engage with explicit cases of democratization, autocratic backsliding and retrenchment, as well as innovative ways citizens have navigated and crafted new channels for dissent and democratic politics. Papers should strive to address the following questions: how can historical processes explain contemporary regime dynamics? How do timing and sequencing affect political order? What are the micro-and macro mechanisms that explain variation across time and space? Thinking beyond the state, how have social movements interacted with, and adapted to new constraints relating to digital authoritarians, surveillance, and co-optation? How have local politics and traditional institutions made space for new forms of democratic politics? How has citizen welfare been affected by formal and informal institutional change, both historically and today? APSA MENA is committed to increasing diversity, inclusion, and access for our presenters and attendees. We strongly encourage proposals from MENA-based scholars, scholars from minoritized groups, and traditionally underrepresented institutions. We welcome proposals that are interdisciplinary, reflect diverse methodological and analytical approaches, or explore comparisons between the MENA and other regions.

Division Chair(s): Diana Owen, Georgetown University and Leah Murray, Weber State University

APSA Civic Engagement Section Confronting Retrenchment: Renovating, Reimagining, and Reinvigorating Civic Engagement to Promote Democracy Civic engagement is a cornerstone of democracy. Engaged citizens are involved in a wide range of individual and collective civil and political actions that are meant to promote the public good. Voting, community service, informed decision-making, civil deliberation, responsible problem-solving, and peaceful protest are traditional mechanisms of democratic engagement. Community membership forged through democratic practices and principles ideally ensures that government is responsive to the views and needs of all citizens and fosters a good quality of life. However, it has long been apparent that civic engagement does not translate equally to democratic empowerment for all people. Members of marginalized groups often find the pathways to participation blocked, increasingly through legal obstacles. There also has been a rise in engagement in intolerant and non-democratic groups. At the same time, there is evidence that people have been reimagining and reinvigorating civic engagement in ways that promote democracy. The digital age has radically transformed many of the traditional avenues of civic engagement and created new opportunities and challenges. Citizens have been seeking ways to engage beyond the traditional bounds of organized politics and community service. Young people have found novel ways to participate in their communities, have their voices heard, and improve societal conditions. They have been taking action to combat racial injustice, climate change, and other threats to humanity. Much important scholarship on civic engagement focuses on traditional organized politics and community service. It is also imperative to investigate how civic engagement is being reimagined in the current era. Scholars and practitioners are invited to explore how civic engagement is related to democratic retrenchment, renovation, and reimagining. Innovative and compelling forms of civic engagement have the potential to reinvigorate democracy, even in difficult times. Some questions that might be addressed are: How do people at all stages of life develop the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and values that underpin democracy? How does a society educate young people for democracy? How is social responsibility promoted through democratic engagement? What is the relationship between citizen engagement and political actors and institutions? How are social and political inequalities reflected in civic engagement? What types of civic engagement threaten democracy? How has civic engagement been evolving in new ways? The section welcomes proposals from a wide range of researchers and supports interdisciplinary work. We encourage submissions that employ innovative theories and methodologies that will advance the research agenda on civic engagement. Panels will provide occasions to share exemplary research and provoke discussion that builds upon extant knowledge and explores new directions for the field.

Division Chair(s): Jane Gingrich, Oxford University

The APSA Education Politics and Policy Section invites submissions on the theme of APSA 2024: ““Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination.” This theme focuses our attention on the intersection of education and training and the stability of democratic institutions. A long standing body of scholarship has pointed to educational systems as both a cause and consequence of democratic institutions – educational institutions allow the emergence of democratic citizens, and in turn, democracies support educational expansion. Recent scholarship, however, has challenged both claims, with a growing body of work examining the varied ideological and socializing aims of education systems and their role in stabilizing non-democratic systems. To what extent do varying curricula, programs of civic education, incorporation of teachers into public life, and differences in public investment shape the nature and resilience of political institutions? To what extent do movements looking to reshape democratic – and non-democratic – institutions target educational institutions and practices? While these questions around the politics of education resonate deeply with the APSA 2024 theme, the section is open to submissions broadly related to education politics. We invite scholars to submit papers, panels, or posters that address questions related to the most crucial questions of education governance in both American and comparative politics. We are open to diverse methodological perspectives, including qualitative, experimental, quantitative or conceptual and theoretical work. The Education Politics and Policy Section recognizes the importance and value of multiplicity and diversity in methodological approach and interdisciplinarity, and welcomes contributions and engagement from scholars with wide-ranging research perspectives and all career stages.

Division Chair(s): Sebastian Rosato, University of Notre Dame and Jennifer Mitzen, Ohio State University

The IR Theory section seeks to build on the conference theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination” by calling for proposals that think theoretically about world politics, grapple with issues of equality and rights in international affairs, and interrogate global institutions and governance, while taking a diversity of voices, perspectives and methodological approaches into consideration. The section embraces all theoretical approaches to the study of IR, including but not limited to, constructivism, liberalism, realism, critical race, feminist, and formal theory. Our goal is to foster scholarship that thinks theoretically, across the regional, topical, and methodological spectrum. We encourage single paper submissions, Author meets Critics panels about published or in progress book manuscripts, and complete panel proposals. All proposals will be given serious consideration, but the strongest consideration will be given to panel proposals with a high degree of intellectual coherence and that feature a diverse range of intellectual approaches and perspectives, career stages, and backgrounds. The section is committed to respecting diversity and recognizing the importance of multiple and interdisciplinary approaches from a broad range of scholars.

Division Chair(s): Daniel Galvin, Northwestern University and Mallory SoRelle, Duke University

The APSA Organized Section on American Political Economy promotes research and dialogue on the interaction of American democracy and American capitalism. We invite proposals for papers and panels that engage with this topic from a range of vantage points, including those considering the role of federalism and local governance, national political institutions, race, and power inequalities among organized interests. We also welcome proposals that tackle substantive areas of economic governance—for example, the response to climate change or housing unaffordability—and/or that examine the American political economy in comparative perspective or in the context of the international political economy. In keeping with the 2024 theme of Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination, we particularly encourage proposals that cast light on the role of political-economic forces in shaping the perils and promises of the democratic project over time, especially those that address questions of political power for different constituencies. The APE section embraces the goal of increasing diversity, inclusion, and access throughout the profession, and we aim to assemble panels that reflect a diversity of methodologies and approaches as well as representation of scholars from a wide range of backgrounds.

Division Chair(s): Adam Ziegfeld, Temple University and Amit Ahuja, UCSB

The South Asian Politics Section invites submissions related to all aspects of the politics of South Asia, which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. We are particularly interested in proposals that are grounded in both a deep contextual knowledge of the region and important theories, debates, and questions in the broader discipline of political science. The section welcomes submissions from a variety of methodological traditions. We encourage submission of well-organized panel proposals that bring together diverse groups of scholars and include papers focused on multiple countries in South Asia.