IPSA Regional Dialogues 2025 Edition

IPSA successfully held the second phase (2025) of the third edition of its Regional Dialogues with national and regional political science associations (collective members). Between late April and early May 2025, five virtual Regional Dialogues meetings were held to foster stronger ties between IPSA and its collective members across Africa, the Americas, Asia-Oceania, and Europe (two meetings). 

Each meeting brought together representatives from IPSA’s collective members in the respective regions, as well as IPSA President Pablo Oñate, Chair of the Committee on Regional Dialogues Emilia Palonen, and IPSA’s Senior Director of Membership, Research and Strategy, Mathieu St-Laurent. The sessions were chaired by members of the IPSA Executive Committee.

This second phase (following the first phase in 2024) of the third Regional Dialogue focused on the following questions:

• What has AI done to transform our field of study in terms of teaching and research? Has this been addressed by the associations?
• How are current political developments and the spread of polarisation, illiberalism or authoritarian rule affecting the national political science communities and the practice in the field of political science? How has your association engaged with these tendencies?

The outcomes of these discussions will be compiled into a report and presented at the 2025 IPSA World Congress of Political Science in Seoul, South Korea. 

Background

The first Regional Dialogues were held virtually between October 2020 and March 2021. Hosted by the IPSA Secretariat, they aimed to facilitate discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on national political science associations and on teaching at universities. Building on their success, IPSA organized the second edition in late 2022 to revisit the impact of COVID-19 and to discuss issues of diversity and gender equality.

Since then, the IPSA Regional Dialogues have become a regular activity on IPSA’s agenda. The third edition was divided into two phases: the first in June 2024 and the second in April–May 2025.

The Regional Dialogues provide a virtual platform that accommodates different time zones, allowing participants to discuss topics of shared interest. Smaller regional groups also enable IPSA to gather more targeted feedback from its 58 collective members, considering each member’s realities, challenges, and regional contexts.