Dear colleagues,
International Association for Political Science students has launched a Call for Papers for the World Congress 2016. The IAPSS World Congress is the biggest annual event for political science students, and a great opportunity for students from all levels to present their papers and get valuable feedback from fellow students.

Call for Papers IAPSS World Congress 2016
“Challenging Democracy”
April 5 – 9, 2016 Berlin, Germany

Deadline for abstract submissions: January 15, 2016

The International Association for Political Science Students launches this Call for Papers for the IAPSS World Congress 2016 in Berlin. This is the largest international conference for political science students, organized every year. If you are interested in presenting your paper at the IAPSS World Congress 2016, you are kindly requested to submit your abstract before January 15.

• The Theme

Democracy is the standard against which all governments across the world are measured. It is, however, not without flaws and has so far failed to provide solutions for global economic inequality, changing expectations of the welfare state, the decline of the nation-state as well as for many other issues. The challenges democracy faces pose a spectrum of theoretical and practical questions about the philosophical background of governing regimes in the world, their changing forms over the centuries and the benefits and flaws of the democratic rule. How can democracy be improved? Are there better alternatives to democracy in order to promote redistribution and recognition of different regional, religious, cultural and national groups? How democracies can adapt to face the new security threats? Why democracies go to war? Can hybrid regimes survive on the long-term?

The key topics to be addressed include (but are not limited to):
- legitimacy;
- identity;
- inclusion/exclusion;
- social movements and responses;
- models of democracy and regime types;
- public policy approaches;
- participatory democracy and grassroots constitutionalism;
- democratic transitions;
- impediments to democratic development;
- democratic legitimacy of supranational and intergovernmental governance;
- new forms of democracy (direct democracy, deliberative democracy, etc.);
- democracies and military interventions;
- strengthening the democratic process;
- the role of religion in 21st century democracies;
- the relationship between globalization processes and democracy;
- hybrid regimes.

These issues can be approached from various perspectives as well as different subfields of political science. We welcome contributions from disciplines such as comparative politics, international relations, political theory, political economy, peace and conflict studies, war studies, public policy and public administration, as well as political psychology and behavior studies, European studies, area studies, law, and others.

•  Guidelines for Paper Submissions

Please send us your abstract of no more than 250 words by submitting an online form here. This form also includes the name of the author(s), the title of the paper, key words, home university, and email address(es). Abstracts should be submitted by January 15, 2016. Selected candidates for student panels will be informed by January 20, 2016. Full papers should be submitted via the available online form at www.iapss.org by March 15, 2016.

• Congress Registration

Please note that you need to be register for the conference by purchasing your ticket in the IAPSS Web Store. The final deadline for registrations is February 28, 2016, but a discount will apply if you register by February 15.

• Travel Grants

A limited number of partial travel grants will be distributed in order to facilitate travel for students and young researchers in developing countries, who otherwise could not afford it. These travel grants are handed out on-site in cash (EUR) during the conference – not in advance. If you wish to apply for a travel grant, please mention this fact when submitting your abstract. Please note that IAPSS travel grants usually only cover a part of individual travel costs. We therefore encourage you to start searching for other third-party funds at an early stage. Students whose abstract has been accepted will receive more details regarding the requirements and deadline for submission.

• Questions

Please do not hesitate to contact us in case of any further questions at: wc-panels@iapss.org