Program Highlights

2026 Program Highlights

See a full listing of this year’s event highlights below.

Use the Online Program or or download the pdf program (available mid August) to obtain the most up-to-date information on the 2026 APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Boston, MA. Events will be held at the Hynes Convention Center, Sheraton Boston Hotel, Boston Marriott Copley Place, and the Westin Copley Place.

9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

2026 Pre-Conference Short Courses
These half- or full-day events offer diverse professional development opportunities and allow attendees to connect with scholars from various backgrounds. Sponsored by APSA Organized Sections, Related Groups, and other affiliated organizations, all short courses require pre-registration.

6:30 p.m.

Reception Honoring the 2026 APSA Award Recipients (Invitation Only)
The reception honors the 2026 APSA Award recipients for their contributions to the discipline. This event is invitation only. View 2026 APSA Awards, awardees and committee members here .

Sheraton Boston Hotel, Republic Ballroom

7:00 a.m.

APSA First-Time Attendee and New Member Breakfast
New members are invited to join us for a breakfast with association leaders.  An RSVP is required.

Sheraton Boston Hotel, Republic Ballroom B

9:30 a.m.

iPoster Sessions
Check out visual presentations covering topics such as immigration, Middle East politics, democracy and autocracy, and more.

Hynes Convention Center, Exhibit Hall A

10:00 a.m.

30th Publication Anniversary of Dr. Paula D. McClain’s “Can We All Get Along? Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics”
Sheraton Boston Hotel, Gardner

12:30 p.m.

APSA All-Member Business Meeting
All APSA members are encouraged to attend the APSA General Membership Meeting, the official business meeting of the Association. This event is an opportunity for members to learn about the business of the Association and express their views. Participants can also join via a virtual meeting invite.

Hynes Convention Center, 104

2:00 p.m.

Plenary Panel: U.S. Democracy at 250: How It Started, How It’s Going, and What We’ve Learned
The 250 years since the United States declared independence have been marked by continuous political struggle over the values, boundaries, identity, and status of the U.S. polity. This ebb and flow of political contestation has had striking and significant consequences, both for denizens within the U.S. and for people all over the world. This panel brings together leading scholars and thinkers to examine what the journey of U.S. democracy might teach us. Culling insights from across subfields we consider how US democracy has developed, what it has wrought both domestically and globally, how it compares to other polities, and what lessons we should carry into a precarious and uncertain future.
About the Speakers »

Hynes Convention Center, 302

4:00 p.m.

Challenges and Opportunities Facing Political Science Associations
Sheraton Boston Hotel, Back Bay Ballroom C

4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Annual Career Open House
The Career Open House is an opportunity for APSA members to connect with departments, institutions, and organizations for informational and informal discussions about jobs in political science as well as other careers that draw on political science training, both on campus and in applied/non-academic settings.

Boston Marriott Copley Place, Arlington

5:30 p.m.

APSA Mentoring and Networking Reception
Join APSA for an informal reception designed to foster mentoring and networking across all career stages. Whether you’re a graduate student, early-career scholar, or senior professional, this event offers a welcoming space to make connections, exchange advice, and build lasting professional relationships within the political science community.

Boston Marriott Copley Place, Exeter

6:30 p.m.

122nd APSA Presidential Address: The University in an Era of Democratic Erosion
Hynes Convention Center, 302

Featured Speaker: Dr. Susan Stokes, APSA President, Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and Director of the Chicago Center on Democracy

7:30 p.m.

APSA Reception Honoring Women in the Profession
Sheraton Boston Hotel, Back Bay Ballroom A

8:30 p.m.

International Attendee Reception
APSA invites all international attendees to this special reception as a welcome to Boston and the Annual Meeting.

Hynes Convention Center, 101

8:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Department Chairs’ Mini-Conference: “Strengthening Political Science Departments”
The third annual APSA Department Chairs’ Mini-Conference provides political science departments with a forum to discuss significant issues affecting the discipline and engage in peer-to-peer collaboration.

Sheraton Boston Hotel, Republic Ballroom B

10:00 a.m.

Breaking News Panel: The State of the World: Democracy, Power, and Uncertainty in the Face of Simultaneous Crises
Democratic backsliding is now unfolding within long-stable Western democracies once treated as reference cases for democratic stability, even as the international order that underwrote it is dismantled, decentralized financial technologies test states’ control over money and capital, and climate change demands global solutions. This panel asks whether these developments are parallel crises or manifestations of a single, deeper transformation — one in which domestic political order, international power, and the material conditions of governance are newly entangled. Do backsliding, geopolitical realignment, and environmental crisis share common causes, or do they merely compound one another? Do we need new theoretical frameworks and epistemological commitments to make sense of this moment? In answering these questions, the panel aims not simply to catalogue the threats democracy faces, but to ask what kind of intellectual reorientation — theoretical, methodological, and normative — this moment demands.
About the Speakers »

Hynes Convention Center, 302

10:00 a.m.

The University in an Era of Democratic Erosion: An APSA Presidential Task Force Report
Hynes Convention Center, 111

10:00 a.m.

Generative AI and Journal Publishing: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policies
Sheraton Boston Hotel, Hampton

2:00 p.m.

APSA Member Appreciation Reception
Hynes Convention Center, APSA Lounge (Exhibit Hall A)

2:00 p.m.

Methods Café 2026
Hynes Convention Center, 210

2:00 p.m.

Ran Hirschl Memorial Panel
Ran Hirschl, who tragically died in May 2026, was a giant in comparative constitutional law. His works explored the rise of juristocracy throughout the world. the importance of constitutional theocracies, the importance of methodology in constitutional law, the problematic place of cities in constitutionalism, and the interplay between sports and citizenship. His forthcoming CONSTITUTIONALISM 2050: PLANETARY CHALLENGES, STATIST THINKING explores how national constitutions inhibit responses to global problems. This panel will discuss Hirschl’s remarkable scholarly output, remembering that while was a spectacular scholar, he was even a better mentor, and even a better friend.

Hynes Convention Center, 302

4:00 p.m.

Breaking News Panel: Academic Freedom in Fraught Times: Why We Need It and How We Can Fight for It
Academic freedom is under threat in the United States. Faculty have been targeted by their universities, the media, powerful political leaders, and individuals in the broader public. This has engendered increasing and legitimate concern that expressing certain views or conducting research on some issues leaves faculty vulnerable to harassment. This panel gathers faculty and university leaders to critically reflect on the implications of the current moment for academic freedom. Panelists will consider what academic freedom is, why it is important for high quality research and teaching, what threats it currently faces, and how universities can protect it.
About the Speakers »

Hynes Convention Center, 302

6:30 p.m.

Gaus Award Lecture
“Varieties of Expertise: Engaging Stakeholders through Constructed Collaboration”
Hynes Convention Center, 204

7:30 p.m.

APSA Reception Honoring Women of Color in the Profession
This reception is held annually to honor Women of Color in the profession and is co-sponsored by APSA Diversity and Inclusion Programs, the Women, Gender and Politics Organized Section, and the APSA Committees on the Status of Asian Pacific Americans, Blacks, First Generation Scholars, Latinos y Latinas, LGBT Individuals, and Women.

Hynes Convention Center, 102

8:00 p.m.

Joint Reception for APSA Status Committees, Caucuses, and REP Organized Section
This reception is held annually and is co-sponsored by APSA Diversity and Inclusion Programs, the APSA Status Committees, the Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Latina/o Caucus, and the Race, Ethnicity and Politics Organized Section.

Hynes Convention Center, 103

Browse the full schedule in the Online Program