Call for papers

2027, 30^th DVPW (German political Science Association) Congress

Theme: World in Flux. What about Political Science?

07^th to 10^th September 2027, Leipzig University

 

Call for papers for the panel “What Makes Liberal Democracy Resilient?”

Liberal democracies worldwide are facing increasing pressure, both from the outside and, increasingly, from within. Authoritarian powers, as well as extremist, populist, and ultra-religious forces, equally contest core liberal principles, such as individual freedoms, minority rights, the rule of law, and the separation of powers.

While such contestations have multiplied and intensified, polarization and radicalization do not necessarily result in democratic erosion, democratic backsliding, or even democratic breakdown. Since 2006, we have observed a global trend of democratic regression, which, however, is less driven by the retrenchment of liberal democracies than the collapse of electoral democracies as well as the entrenchment of autocracies.

 

Polarizing and radicalizing contestations often evolve around liberal principles that safeguard democratic integrity. This makes liberal democracies more likely targets. At the same time, liberal democracies have, on the whole, managed to constrain and mitigate the effects of deepening contestations, so far escaping severe democratic backsliding and persistent breakdown.

These observations raise two questions, we invite papers to address:

1. Why are liberal democracies more resilient than electoral democracies?
2. Why are some liberal democracies more resilient than others?

We are particularly interested in the role of institutional factors (e.g., voting systems), as compared to societal (e.g., interpersonal trust), socio-economic (e.g., wealth, inequality), cultural (e.g., shared values) and international (e.g., membership in regional organizations) conditions of resilience.

 

Panel convenors are Nicole Bolleyer (nicole.bolleyer@gsi.uni-muenchen.de) and Tanja A. Börzel (tanja.boerzel@fu-berlin.de)

 

Call for papers for the panel “A World (Order) Without the US?”

The retreat of the Trump Administration from more than 65 International Organizations (IOs), its trade wars against allies, violations of international law, and self-inflicted decline in influence have led many to conclude that the liberal or rules-based international order (LIO) is either dead or at least “under destruction.” Agreed upon global rules are being challenged or disregarded, deterrence is weakening as armed conflicts increase, and the US loss of credibility is providing an opportunity for other actors to expand influence. However, evidence for the end of the post-World War II liberal order or the emergence of something else is scant.

This panel addresses two interrelated questions:

1. What has been the role of the US in the post-WWII international order? How can we (empirically and theoretically) assess competing claims of the US’ role ranging from benign liberal hegemony to neo-colonial imperialism? Or should we reassess the significance of the US’s role altogether, as more confined and less relevant than usually assumed? What is the empirical evidence for these assessments?
2. How will a future world (dis-) order look like in which the US plays a much lesser role? How can we assess arguments that variously predict brutish Hobbesian geopolitics, a division into new spheres of influence, or the emergence of multiple orders? What empirical indicators do we have to assess the likely trajectories of the LIO and/or its alternatives?

We invite theory-guided and evidence-based papers addressing one or both of these questions, including by authors from outside German-speaking countries.

 

Panel convenors are Thomas Risse (thomas.risse@fu-berlin.de) and Lora Viola (lviola@zedat.fu-berlin.de).

 

For enquiries, please contact the panel convenors.

 

 

Submission instructions

To submit a paper proposal, please use the DVPW portal here: https://meine.dvpw.de/einreichungen/ where you have to register.

Deadline: 31^st October 2026