IPSA Research Committee on Political Finance and Political Corruption (RC20)
Biannual Meeting at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon (Portugal)
30 March-1 April 2026
Conveners
Luís de Sousa, ICS-ULisboa (Portugal)
Guillaume Fontaine, FLACSO (Ecuador)
Objectives
The Research Committee on Political Finance and Political Corruption (RC20) will organize its next biannual meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, hosted by the Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa (ICS-ULisboa) and with the institutional support of the Associação Portuguesa de Ciência Política (APCP), from March 30 to April 1, 2026. The workshop will bring together committee members and scholars in the field to present and discuss current research on political finance and corruption, fostering comparative analysis and collaboration across regions and disciplines.
Format
The workshop will be organised into thematic panels (the final number will depend on the quality of paper proposals received). Each panel will comprise three to four papers, two discussants, and one chair. Each paper presenter will have 20 minutes to present their work. Once all panel presentations are completed, the discussant(s) will deliver a set of oral comments lasting approximately 20 minutes. The panel chair will then open the floor for questions and general discussion.
Only participants presenting a paper will be included in the programme. Papers should be preferably unpublished. For co-authored papers, only one author will be scheduled to present, although this does not preclude co-authors from attending the workshop.
The workshop will be held in person, with a maximum of 50 participants. No participation fees will be charged.
Call for contributions
We invite scholars and postgraduate students to submit a 500-word abstract clearly outlining the research aims, methods employed, main findings, and avenues for further inquiry. We welcome contributions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- Electoral Integrity under Threat. Looks at vote-buying, illicit campaign financing, and challenges to electoral accountability worldwide.
- Corruption as a Public Policy Issue. Examines how corruption shapes, and is shaped by, policy design, implementation, and governance outcomes.
- Illicit Economies and Political Corruption. Investigates how organized crime, narco-politics, and money laundering influence political funding.
- Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Corruption Control: Opportunities, Risks, and Ethical Challenges. Explores the opportunities, risks, and ethical challenges associated with the use of digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and machine learning in corruption prevention and control.
- Citizen Oversight and Whistleblowing in the 21st Century.Focuses on civil society, media, and individuals exposing corruption, and the role of whistleblower protections.
- Measuring Success in Anti-Corruption Collective Action.Evaluates how government, anticorruption agencies, business, and civil society coalitions achieve (or fail to achieve) anti-corruption goals.
- Rethinking Political Ethics Regulation in Fragmented and Polarized Political Contexts. Examines the challenges of designing, adopting, and enforcing political ethics regulations when political actors are divided, institutional trust is low, and incentives for opportunistic behaviour and symbolic action are high.
- New Governmental and Non-Governmental Anti-Corruption Actors, Specialisation and Institutional Capacity. Examines the role, degree of specialisation, and effectiveness of emerging governmental and non-governmental anti-corruption actors – such as anti-corruption agencies, specialised courts, audit bodies, and anti-corruption civil society organisations – across different national contexts.
- Critical Perspectives on Anti-Corruption. Offers critical reflections on concepts, metrics, and theories of corruption and anti-corruption, with particular attention to alternative perspectives and contributions from the Global South.
The meeting aims at excellence by striking a balance between consolidated and original research. Comparative methods are encouraged, including cross-country or sub-national analysis, longitudinal studies, and paired comparisons. Fairness of geographical spread, gender and age will be taken into consideration when selecting
participants.
Please submit abstract proposals to RC20 Chairs Luís de Sousa (luis.sousa@ics.ulisboa.pt) and Guillaume Fontaine (gfontaine@flacso.edu.ec) by 1 February 2026.
IMPORTANT DATES
8 February 2026: Abstract submission deadline
16 February 2026: Acceptance emails sent to presenters
1 March 2026: Reception of draft papers
8 March 2026: Detailed Programme
30 March-1 April 2026: In-Person RC20 meeting to be held in Lisbon, Portugal
