The 2025 IPSA World Congress Sets New Participation Record

Photo: Ban Ki-moon delivers his plenary speech at the 2025 IPSA World Congress on 13 July.

The 2025 IPSA World Congress of Political Science was held from 12 to 16 July 2025 at the Coex Convention Center in Seoul, South Korea. Organized under the theme Resisting Autocratization in Polarized Societies, the Congress was co-chaired by Professors Irasema Coronado and Azul A. Aguiar Aguilar and delivered the highest attendance in IPSA’s 76-year history with 3,370 participants.

Photo: President of the Republic of Korea Lee Jae-myung addresses the delegates at the Opening Ceremony of the 2025 IPSA World Congress.

Organized in partnership with the Korean Political Science Association and the broader Asian social science community, the 2025 World Congress underscored IPSA’s mission to foster inclusive and global scholarly engagement. Delegates from 95 countries presented 3,053 papers in 776 panels. The Congress also featured four plenary sessions and six award sessions. The top ten countries by number of participants were South Korea (387), the United States (328), India (314), Japan (299), Poland (139), Germany (138), the United Kingdom (127), Taiwan (123), and both Canada and the Philippines with 119 participants each.

Photo (left to right): Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Kim Minseok, Kim Dae-jung Award recipient T.V. Paul, and IPSA Past President Pablo Oñate at the Kim Dae-jung Award Roundtable.

World Congress Plenaries

Sunday, 13 July 2025
Liberal Democracy, Multilateralism and Global Citizenship
Speaker: Ban Ki-moon (Former Secretary-General of the United Nations)
Chair: Irasema Coronado

Monday, 14 July 2025
The Contentious Politics of Academic Freedom: Social Movements and Repression
Speaker: Donatella della Porta (Professor of Political Science, Dean of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, and Director of the PhD Program in Political Science and Sociology at Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence)
Chair: Azul A. Aguiar Aguilar 

Tuesday, 15 July 2025
IPSA President’s Plenary: Populism, Polarization and the Consequences on Democracy
Chair: Pablo Oñate (IPSA President)
Speakers (left to right): Ji Yeon Hong (University of Michigan, United States), Magdalena Musiał-Karg (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland), Murat Somer (Ozyegin University, Türkiye), Kurt Weyland (University of Texas, United States), Carlos de la Torre (University of Florida, United States), Pablo Oñate.

Wednesday, 16 July 2025
Resisting Legal Autocracy in South Asia
Speaker: Neera Chandhoke (Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Equity Studies, Delhi)
Chair: Serge Granger

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all participants, track chairs, and dedicated volunteers whose efforts made the 2025 Congress a resounding success. We also express our sincere gratitude to the Local Organizing Committee and its Co-Chairs—Euiyoung Kim, Sunghack Lim, Ajin Choi, and Bumsoo Kim—as well as to our partners, sponsors, and exhibitors for their invaluable support.

Photo (left): Woo Won-shik (Speaker of the National Assembly) delivers remarks at the Closing Ceremony of the 2025 IPSA World Congress.

As we reflect on this landmark Congress, we look forward to continuing this momentum at the 2027 IPSA World Congress of Political Science, to be held in Rome, Italy, in July 2027. We invite scholars, practitioners, and students worldwide to submit their abstracts in 2026.

Photo: IPSA Executive Committee members and the WC2025 Local Organizing Committee members at the Closing Ceremony on 16 July 2025.

World Congress Partners