Past IAPSS Delegations
IAPSS regularly sends delegations to conferences of its international partner associations. A list of delegations to date is below.
2023
27th IPSA World Congress of Political Science
From July 15-19, 2023, the International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS) attended the 27th IPSA World Congress of Political Science in Buenos Aires, Argentina. IAPSS hosted a booth in the Exhibition Hall where the IAPSS delegates answered questions of the World Congress participants. IAPSS also convened its own session at the World Congress. The session had two panels.
Panel 1: Assessing the Course of Political Change and Democratization in Contemporary Latin America
Chair: Dr. Rafael Plancarte Escobar
Co-chair: Dr. Monica Eugenia Moreno Rubio
The processes of political change and democratization, as various scholars have remarked, are always open-ended and contain some degree of uncertainty . This means that their evaluation must be constantly renewed. This is all the more evident if one takes into account that the institutional, economic and social challenges of most Latin American countries have worsened in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a consequence, democratization has been interrupted in some cases. However, the type of processes and phenomena observed display different characteristics from those witnessed in other stages of Latin America’s political history. For example, some authors have insisted that authoritarian reversals and the irruption of contemporary illiberal regimes do not occur mainly through coups d’état or the instrumentation of violence, but rather gradually and through elections. In this context, the phenomenon of the new populisms has attracted particular attention. However, the impact of populisms on democratization is not a concluded debate, since each tradition of political thought -including the substantive conception of democracy, the liberal conception of democracy, and Marxism- sustains arguments that may be contrasting. The objective of this panel is to reflect on the direction and characteristics of political change in Latin America in the contemporary scene through the analysis of phenomena that impact democratization from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives. Some of the topics covered in this panel are: analysis of the different dimensions of the quality of democracy in Latin America; consolidation and emergence of hybrid regimes; new authoritarian setbacks; the weakening of conventional political parties in polarized societies; political participation, social movements and elections in Latin America; impact of populisms on the democratization process; new discussions in the debate between procedural and substantive conceptions of democracy; differences between left-wing and right-wing populisms in Latin America; differences between contemporary populisms and 20th century populisms in Latin America; and case studies on contemporary electoral processes in Latin America.
Panel 2: Assessing the Effect of Civic Education on Civil Politics and Quality of Democracy
Chair: Youngin Seo
Co-chair: Daniela Patricia Paz Coronel
Although the importance of civic education in improving quality of democracy is undisputed these days, how to develop an effective and appropriate educational program that suits the local context of each country remains in doubt. Many countries with well-established procedural democracy still face significant problems with their ineffective civic education curriculum, which limits the chance to develop the quality of democracy further. These countries tend to suffer from one of two shortcomings in civic education: in one case, they have the curriculum for civic education but no practices for ensuring sustained participation; or they have youth populations who are interested and engagement but no curriculum for institutionalizing their democratic participation. The former condition is evident in countries like South Korea which employs top-down approaches to educational reform, creating a focus on the curriculum itself rather than providing participatory programs where students can have field-oriented experiences. Latin American countries provide examples of the latter condition, where active commitment in politics is observable but generally performed as civil resistance such as student mobilizations or protests. While those demonstrations can be a form of political engagement, they act as temporary channels for political expressions rather than institutionalized political involvement. Hence, innovations in civic education are needed for fostering stronger democracies. The objective of this panel is to discuss possible and innovative ideas about alternative approaches for effective civic education by reflecting on both political philosophy but also various case studies of recently developed education programs around the world. This panel aims to link the topic of civic education through Plato’s Menexenus, to the analysis of the different types of civic education programs around the world, the effect of community-based learning on citizen politics (CBL-CP), the different institutional system and the role of education agents in civic education; case studies of innovative approaches especially in recently democratized states.
Delegates: Oleksii Zahreba (IAPSS President), Anna Kuteleva (Editor-In-Chief of Politikon), Dr. Rafael Plancarte Escobar (Editor-In-Chief of Encuentro Latinoamericano), Daniela Patricia Paz Coronel, Nestor Fernando Aranibar Campero, Guilherme Silva Pires de Freitas, Felipe Honorato, Monica Eugenia Moreno Rubio.
2019
UNESCO 9th Consultation of NGOs on Education 2030
From December 2-5, 2019, the International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS) attended the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 9th Consultation of NGOs on Education 2030 in Hammamet, Tunisia. IAPSS was able to add a small but not insignificant clause to the final report in a bulleted list of recommendations related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals pertaining to education, which consists of a call to “Recognize democratic student governments as politically legitimate institutions within education systems and support the inclusion of student representation within education decision-making structures.” As IAPSS is one of the last democratic student governments with a global scope, as other organizations like the International Union of Students have collapsed, the likely unprecedented inclusion of this clause in UNESCO’s report is a sign of hope that student representation will improve in future years.
Delegate: Justin Patrick (IAPSS Secretary-General 2019-2020).
2016
ECPR General Conference 2016
Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic
The two panels convened by IAPSS at the ECPR General Conference in Prague presented the work of the members of IAPSS Board, Student Research Committees as well as selected other scholars. During the first day of the conference, the first IAPSS panel took place, as one of the many scheduled events, including roundtables on whether Central Europe is still ‘Post-Communist’, on ‘Professional Ethics in Political Science’ and a festive opening and plenary lecture by Rogers Brubaker. Hundreds of panels, including the second IAPSS panel, unfolded during the second and third day, together with roundtables on ‘International Institutions and Global Power Shifts’ and ‘Gender in Political Science Research’, and featured panels sponsored by the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and the American Political Science Association (APSA).
We thank our partners from the ECPR for organizing another hugely successful event and look forward to the 2017 General Conference at the University of Oslo in Norway.
IAPSS was represented by: Max Steuer (Head of the Academic Department 2016-2017), Mihai Chihaia (Delegations Coordinator, 2015-2016), Gergana Tzvetkova, Tabata Lima (members of the IAPSS Student Research Committee on IR Theory)
IPSA World Congress 2016
Poznań, Poland
Between 23 – 28 July, IAPSS has been present at the biannual World Congress of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) in Poznań. The Association’s largest event focused on “Politics in a World of Inequality” and addressed a wide range of issues in contemporary political science research. IAPSS convened its own session at the World Congress. The session comprised four panels and has been an integrative part of the program.
ECPR Graduate Student Conference 2016
University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
At this four-day conference in July 2016, IAPSS oversaw the section ‘Democracy and Democratization’ that included three panels presenting the work of IAPSS members as well as external researchers who successfully applied to be part of this panel. For the first time at an event hosted by a partner association, members of IAPSS Student Research Committees held an own panel as part of the section. We thank to all participants, in particular to those involved in the IAPSS section and SRC members, as well as to ECPR and the University of Tartu.
Section Co-Chairs: Mihai Chihaia (Delegations Coordinator, 2015-2016) and Vit Simral (Head of the Academic Department, 2014-2016)
IAPSS was represented by: Max Steuer (Head of the Academic Department, 2016-2017), Isabel Köhler, Mária Gajarská Kučerová and Gergana Tzvetkova (members of IAPSS Student Research Committees)
2015
ECPR General Conference 2015
Montreal, Canada
The European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) held its General Conference 2015 between August 26 – 29, 2015, in Montreal, Canada. The ECPR General Conference is the Association’s largest event, bringing together some 2,500 political scientists from throughout the world. Increasing demand has meant that from 2014 the General Conference became an annual event, with the 2015 Conference taking place in Montreal – the ECPR’s first ever event held outside of Europe.
IAPSS Section (3 Panels):
Chair: Vit Simral, Head of IAPSS Academic Department (2014-2016)
Co-chair: Philipp Aepler, IAPSS President (2012-2015)
Panel 1: Intervention and State-building
The panel was focused on scholarly and policy debates on contemporary international intervention and statebuilding, including Responsibility to Protect, humanitarian intervention, democracy promotion, human security, and the security-development nexus. It called for papers on the liberal peace perspective, focusing on institution building and good governance, as well as on the critical debates which expose the neo-colonial discourses of international interveners and the issue of resistance.
Panel 2: Mediation and Conflict Management
The panel invited contributions on the issue of mediation of international as well as intra-state conflicts. Papers discussing both theoretical and practical aspects of conflict management were welcome. Preference was given to works on recent and ongoing international and domestic conflicts and current approaches towards mediation, works on historical cases were, however, also considered.
Panel 3: Cooperation and Trust-building in International Organisations
The panel welcomed submissions on the issue of cooperation and trust among members of international organisations. Authors were encouraged to submit works that transcend the boundaries of political science into the fields of other social sciences and humanities. The panel aimed to bring together papers looking at the topic from different angles, from the viewpoint of different theories and different methodologies. Case studies, comparative research as well as purely philosophical and theoretical works were considered.
2014
IPSA World Congress 2014
Montreal, Canada
Between 19 – 24 July 2014, a large delegation consisting of members of the IAPSS Executive Committee and 5 panelists attended and presented research and work in-progress at the IPSA biannual World Congress in Montreal, Canada. Due to IAPSS’ key partnership with the IPSA, the IAPSS Executive Committee was invited to attend and speak on multiple occassions, including the meeting of the IPSA Executive Committee and the IPSA Council Meeting. To strengthen ties with colleagues in North America, two meetings have been held with the Canadian Political Science Students Associations (CPSSA).
IAPSS Panels (2)
(1) “Corporate governance vs. traditional governance: new rationales, new instruments, new elites”
Chair: Alexandru Volacu, Head of IAPSS Academic Department (2013-2014)
Co-chair: Reint-Jan Groot Nuelend, IAPSS Treasuer (2013-2015)
(2) “Challenges to systems of regional cooperation: lessons (to be) learnt by EU, SAARC, ASEAN and the African Union”
Chair: Philipp Aepler, IAPSS President (2012-2015)
Co-chair: Thomas Linders, IAPSS Secretary-General
Estoril Political Forum 2014
Estoril, Portugal
For the second time, IAPSS participated at the annual Estorial Political Forum (June 23rd – 25th, 2014), a political science meeting of a number of Europe’s oldest universities. Hosted by the Institute for Political Studies of the Catholic University of Portugal, in Lisbon, the delegation presented at Hotel Palacia in Estoril and met with fellow researchers and partners in the political science arena.
IAPSS Panel (1)
“Regime Changes and Political Transitions: Challenges Faced by Democracy in Developing Countries”
Chair: Jannick Burggraaff, University of Amsterdam
On the panel: Democracy is one of the most prominent areas within Political Science, as well as in International Relations and Comparative Politics. Many sub-areas go hand-in-hand: democratization case studies, different and multiple definitions of democracy, as well as IR theories about democratic countries foreign policy and their actions towards non-democratic ones.
2013
54th ISA Annual Convention
San Francisco, United States
Addressing “The Politics of International Diffusion: Regional and Global Dimensions”, the 54th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA) took place in San Francisco, United States, from April 3 to April 6, 2013. Members of the IAPSS Executive Committee and five paper presenters, in collaboration with John Hopkins University, Washington D.C., held a well-visited panel.
IAPSS Panel – “The Erosion Of State Authority Amid Social Media And The New Information Society”
Chair: Rodrigo Vaz, Institute for Political Studies, Catholic University of Portugal
Discussant: Steffen Westerburger, Radboud University Nijmegen (the Netherlands)
Estoril Political Forum 2013
Estoril, Portugal
IAPSS Panel – “The Future of Democracy”
