2003 Call for Papers

Abstract

The 2003 meetings mark the centenary of APSA. The century in which Political Science developed as an academic discipline witnessed major transformations in technology, warfare, the economy, and national and international forms of governance. The spread of democracy and the elaboration and defense of individual rights were at the forefront of political changes at the national and international levels. The 2003 theme considers the causes and the significance of these transformations, and it assesses the diverse ways that American political science has approached the study of democracy and justice over its hundred-year history. Among the topics we consider are: What conditions promote democratic reform? How has the understanding and practice of democracy changed over the course of the century? How do we define justice in the modern world? How are democracy and justice related? How do considerations of democracy and justice influence the process of democratic transition? In what ways are the concepts of democracy and justice meaningful at the international level? We especially welcome papers and panels that examine these questions through comparisons over time and across countries or that explore critical periods in the intellectual understandings and practice of democracy and justice.