The 2024 Australian Political Studies Association Conference

The University of Western Australia (Australia) will host the 2024 Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) Conference from 25-28 November. This year’s conference acknowledges that “2024 is not just an election year. It’s perhaps the election year.” An estimated 4 billion people worldwide are due to cast their votes in elections across a diverse array of democratic and less-than-democratic nations. This year might be best viewed as the year of planetary democracy and politics. The outcomes of national, state and local elections internationally and here in Australia, this year and next, point to major transformations in the state of democratic and political systems, international relations, multi-level governance, policy priorities, with corresponding impacts on citizens and non-citizens.

Big questions abound concerning the condition of the democratic project in the 21st century: What does the rise in populism mean for democracy? How can we make sense of and address fraught geo-political relations? What are the political and policy implications of large-scale migration and displacement, pressures on social cohesion, concerns about environmental tipping points, and challenges in containing the cost-of-living crisis? What does the future hold for Indigenous politics in Australia (and elsewhere) in the wake of the Voice Referendum? What are the prospects of a more representative and diverse democracy at the local, state and federal levels?

All these questions, and many more, provide fertile ground for scholars of political science, political theory, comparative politics, international relations and public policy to critically analyse the meaning, character, and condition of democracy and politics on different scales and from a range of philosophical, ideological, methodological and pedagogical perspectives. There is an opportunity here to offer ideas on how to improve structures, processes and policies that enhance the integrity of democratic and political systems.

Further details are available on the conference website: uwa.edu.au/institutes/public-policy/apsa-conference-2024