Upcoming Conferences of the American Political Science Association
APSA 2024 Annual Meeting
“Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination”
Philadelphia, PA
September 5-8, 2024
General Conference Information
APSA Political Communication Division Call for the 2024 Conference:
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.
APSA Political Communication Section Pre-Conference 2024
The Political Communication Section of the American Political Science Association invites interested scholars to submit abstracts for papers to be presented at the 2024 Political Communication Preconference. The Preconference will take place 8:30 am - 7 pm Wednesday September 4, 2024 at the Annenberg Public Policy Center on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.
Deadline for submission is no later than TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2024.
Abstracts of no more than 350 words (maximum 5,000 characters), plus 3-5 keywords, should be uploaded to the Political Communication Preconference Site HERE.
In keeping with the main conference theme, “Democracy: Retrenchment, Renovation, & Reimagination ,” we urge Preconference submitters to consider how communication theory, as well as trends in journalism, digital technologies, and our broader media environment interact with - or shape - democratic norms, institutions, and processes. As always, we encourage scholars to think in terms of fundamental normative questions of democratic health, and ways of applying political communication research to advance our understanding of – and even help solve – the big questions of our time.
This year’s preconference, designed to allow time for both formal and informal discussion and exchange of ideas, will feature:
- 4 traditional panels
- 8 plenary and roundtables
- a keynote lecture from Dr. Emily Thorson on her new book "The Invented State: Policy Misperceptions in the American Public."
- Time for informal exchanges during continental breakfast, lunch, breaks, and a closing reception
The Preconference will take place 8:30 am - 7 pm Wednesday September 4, 2024
at the Annenberg Public Policy Center on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.
Please send questions to preconference planners:
Dannagal Young dgyoung@udel.edu OR
Lance Holbert r.lance.holbert@gmail.com