2024 IAPSS World Congress

As a flagship event with hundreds of students participating each year, it serves as a platform to present and discuss your own research with fellow students from the discipline. During the conference, the participants are involved in a broad range of different activities: attending one of the student-run panels with contributions from recent academic work of students, academic lectures. The program is always completed by a range of social and cultural fringe events and ends with the IAPSS General Assembly, during which members discuss the future of the Association. The theme of the Congress always corresponds with the IAPSS Annual Theme which serves IAPSS as a common thread throughout the year.

2024 edition: “Future of Governance in the Digital Era”

The digital era has revolutionized the way societies function, communicate, and are governed. The integration of technology into governance processes has shown the potential to enhance efficiency, transparency, and citizen engagement. Although the rate of adoption of digital tools among government has been slow at first, the growing accessibility of mobile Internet, and notably the COVID-19 pandemic, have forced government transformation to adapt to the digital era. Governments have taken notice of how digital tools help to accelerate operations and optimize resources, allowing for a more effective allocation of public funds. Governmental entities started making use of data-driven decision-making as the ability to collect and analyze vast amounts of data empowered them to make informed decisions based on evidence and trends.

However, the high pace of progress of digital technologies presents challenges to governance. Crucial questions about privacy, security, and the equitable distribution of digital resources have been posed, while the recent developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have raised concerns about the risks created by the growing accessibility to AI models. The governments-signatories to The Bletchley Declaration have highlighted that “many risks arising from AI are inherently international in nature, and so are best addressed through international cooperation”. As we navigate through an increasingly interconnected and technologically driven global landscape, the future of governance faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities.

There are many implications of the digital era on issues such as human rights, privacy, and the rule of law. How do digital advancements affect the balance between security and civil liberties? What challenges emerge in ensuring ethical governance in the face of rapid technological change? How are developing nations navigating the challenges posed by digitalization? How do advancements in technology impact the security of government systems and citizens’ personal data?

With this conference theme, IAPSS hopes to encourage students and junior scholars of political science and related disciplines to participate in this exciting academic discussion. If you have never presented a paper before, this is your best chance to start!

Subthemes

• Security and Conflict
• Digital transformation and its impact on conflict.
• Information, espionage and warfare.
• Virtual propaganda and security threats.
• International Relations and Diplomacy
• Opportunities and challenges for cooperation.
• Virtual (public) diplomacy.
• International organizations and Global AI Governance
• Political Communication
• Global (dis)information management.
• Social media, virtual spaces and political leadership.
• Artificial Intelligence in political campaigning.
• Climate Change
• Technology solutions for climate change mitigation.
• Green energy and sustainable development.
• The environmental footprint of Artificial Intelligence solutions.
• Human Rights and the Rule of Law
• Digital surveillance and human rights.
• The impact of digitization on human rights and the rule of law.
• Ethical hacking.
• Gender and Identity Politics
• Virtual spaces for queer voices.
• Community, organization and political participation.
• Feminism’s online wave.
• Global Markets & Economy
• Fintech and its implications for global markets.
• Global supply chains.
• The impact of digitalization on labor markets.
• Global South
• Digital inclusion and development in the Global South.
• Digital skills in the Global South.
• South-South cooperation in the digital era.
• Political Theory and Philosophy
• Classical debates in the digital era.
• Ethics and morality in artificial intelligence.
• The inclusion of digitization in political philosophy.
• Society and Governance
• Virtual activism and social change.
• Democratic governance and public services.
• Social inclusion and digitization.
• Other
• If you believe your topic is connected to the theme of the conference but none of the subthemes, please select this category.