Ethnoracial Hierarchies and Democratic Commitments By Jana Morgan and Nathan J. Kelly, University of Tennessee Entrenched ethnoracial hierarchies that persist alongside formal democratic rules threaten commitments to democracy. Previous research has shown how marginalization and oppression harm minoritized group members, but has rarely considered the potential harm entrenched group-based hierarchies pose for democratic society overall. This paper offers two innovations.

When submitting and accepting panel and individual paper proposals, please follow the following four participation rules:

Cosmos-Politanism: Transhumanist Visions of Global Order from the First World War to the Digital Age By Duncan Bell, University of Cambridge and Apolline Taillandier, Newnham College Inspired by developments in artificial intelligence, space engineering, and genetics, discussion of post-human visions of the future is now widespread, especially in the tech world. This reflective essay analyses various ideological configurations of “transhumanism,” a body of thought centred on the pursuit of radical human improvement through technoscientific intervention.

One of the many important roles of the American Political Science Association (APSA) is recognizing excellence in the political science profession.  APSA makes awards for the best dissertations, papers and articles, and books in the various subfields, and for career achievement in research, teaching and service to the discipline.  These awards will be presented at the 2026 APSA Annual Meeting…

Changing Attitudes and Provoking Action: Perspective-Taking Mobilizes White Americans for Prisoner Release By Mackenzie Israel-Trummel, William & Mary Imagining oneself in another’s position can soften animus and promote empathy. When one’s loved ones have intense contact with carceral institutions, it can provoke a sense of injustice and political mobilization. Drawing on these insights, I design a survey experiment which assigns respondents to a no-treatment condition, an informational control, an egocentric perspective-taking exercise (imagining they are incarcerated), or a surrogate perspective-taking exercise (imagining someone close to them is incarcerated).

September 3-6, 2026 | Boston, MA

History of the Profession: APSA Oral History Project: Contributions by Scholars of Color Interview Series at WPSA 2025 As part of the ongoing Contributions by Scholars of Color series, the APSA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department conducted new oral history interviews during the 2025 Western Political Science Association (WPSA) Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington. This collection of interviews contributes to a continuous project that seeks to amplify the scholarship and contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to the political science profession and to examine the history of race and racism within the discipline.

Calibrating Confidence: Civic Education and the Relationship between Objective Political Knowledge and Political Knowledge Confidence By Joshua M. Jansa, Oklahoma State University, Eve M. Ringsmuth, Oklahoma State University and Alex P. Smith, The University of Iowa The concept of political knowledge is foundational to American politics, but we know little about the extent to which its two dimensions—objective knowledge and knowledge confidence—covary over time as citizens learn about the American political system.

APSA is now accepting applications for the 2026 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute. The RBSI is an intensive five-week program designed to introduce undergraduate juniors to the world of doctoral study in political science. The 2026 institute will be held May 24 – June 25, 2026, at Duke University. Please consider sharing this with students that could benefit from the program.

Attributing Responsibility to Big Tech for Mass Atrocity: Social Media and Transitional Justice By Juan Espíndola, University of Michigan Big Tech companies such as Meta, the owner of Facebook, are increasingly accused of enabling human rights violations. The proliferation of toxic speech in their digital platforms has been in the background of recent episodes of mass atrocity, the most salient of which recently transpired in Myanmar and Ethiopia. 

History of the Profession: APSA Oral History Project: Contributions by Scholars of Color Interview Series at NCOBPS 2025 As part of the ongoing Contributions by Scholars of Color series, the APSA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department conducted new oral history interviews during the 2025 National Conference of Black Political Scientists in New Orleans, Louisiana. This collection of interviews contributes to a continuous project that seeks to amplify the scholarship and contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to the political science profession and to examine the history of race and racism within the discipline.

(When) Do Parties Affect Economic Inequality? A Systematic Analysis of 30 Years of Research By Martin Haselmayer, University of Applied Sciences and Alexander Horn, Aarhus University Despite 30 years of research on economic inequality, the question of whether government ideology affects inequality remains unresolved. As rising inequality poses a major challenge to contemporary democracies, we ask: (when) do parties matter regarding inequality?

The American Political Science Association is now accepting applications for the Diversity and Inclusion Advancing Research Grant for Indigenous Politics. Applications are due Sunday, November 2,…

The American Political Science Association is now accepting applications for the Diversity and Inclusion Advancing Research Grant for Indigenous Politics. Applications are due Sunday, November 2,…

In an effort to bring attention to exceptional scholarship, many of APSA Organized Sections have established awards. Currently there are more than 100 such awards honoring dissertations, papers, articles, books and career achievement. Winners are generally selected by member committees appointed by the chair or executive committee of the section. The organized section recognize winners at their annual business meetings, which are held in conjunction with the APSA Annual Meeting.

The Free Movement of People and the Success of Far-Right Parties: Evidence from Switzerland’s Border Liberalization By Ala Alrababah, Bocconi University, Andreas Beerli, ETH Zurich, Dominik Hangartner, ETH Zurich, and Dalston Ward, ETH Zurich The main theories explaining electoral backlash against immigration focus on citizens’ cultural, economic, and security concerns. We test these predictions in Switzerland, which opened its labor market to neighboring countries in the 2000s.

In an effort to bring attention to exceptional scholarship, many of APSA Organized Sections have established awards. Currently, there are more than 100 such awards honoring dissertations, papers, articles, books, and career achievement. Winners are generally selected by member committees appointed by the chair or executive committee of the section. The organized section recognizes winners at its annual business meetings, which are held in conjunction with the APSA Annual Meeting.

In the APSA Public Scholarship Program, graduate students in political science produce summaries of new research in the American Political Science Review. This piece, written by Ewa Nizalowska, covers the new article by Mónica Brito Vieira, University of York, and Sean Fleming, University of Nottingham, "Ecological Personhood: A Bridging Approach". After a centuries-long political and legal battle by the Māori people, in 2017 Aotearoa New Zealand granted legal personhood to the Whanganui River.

The American Political Science Association is now accepting applications for the Diversity and Inclusion Advancing Research Grant for Indigenous Politics. Applications are due Sunday, November 2,…

In an effort to bring attention to exceptional scholarship, many of APSA Organized Sections have established awards. Currently, there are more than 100 such awards honoring dissertations, papers, articles, books, and career achievement. Winners are generally selected by member committees appointed by the chair or executive committee of the section. The organized section recognizes winners at its annual business meetings, which are held in conjunction with the APSA Annual Meeting.