APSA Pre-Conference in Political Communication

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Democracy under Threat: How to Understand, Protect, and Rebuild

September 2, 2026

Deadline: April 20, 2026

This year, the pre-conference will be held in person at Boston University on September 2, 2026. Keeping with the theme of the 2026 APSA Annual Meeting, “Democracy under Threat: How to Understand, Protect, and Rebuild,” the APSA Political Communication Pre-Conference invites research on how communication shapes democratic threat and resilience; the roles that media systems, disinformation, elite discourse, and digital platforms play in supporting or contesting democratic backsliding; and the ways that messaging, collective action, and information environments influence how publics understand, protect, and reimagine democracy. We welcome submissions across all methods and approaches drawn from communication studies, political science, social psychology, computational social science, and related disciplines. We especially encourage early-career scholars (PhD students, postdocs, junior faculty) to apply.

Papers that do not directly address the larger conference theme but deal with core issues of political communication are welcome to apply, though priority will be given to papers related to the theme.

Submissions are due by April 20, 2026. Notification of acceptance will be sent by May 20, 2026. Proposals should include full contact information for all authors, as well as a 500-word abstract (without references). To apply, please use the following link: https://forms.gle/MxXnZLErcCQzguxw8.

The pre-conference will be held at Boston University. For questions about your submission, please contact apsapolicompreconf@gmail.com.