2027 APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition Theme Statement

September 2-5, 2027 | Washington, DC

“The Institutions We Need: Design, Reform, and Renewal”

APSA President-Elect: Beth Simmons, University of Pennsylvania

Program Co-chairs: William Howell, Johns Hopkins and Jon Pevehouse, University of Wisconsin

Political institutions—local, national, international, and transnational—are under extraordinary strain. Understood broadly as a stable set of rules, norms, and roles that structures behavior, it is difficult to conceptualize a setting or organized human activity without institutions. But are the institutions we have just? Legitimate? Fit for purpose?

Some would say not. Public trust in government has eroded across established democracies. Populist movements have upended party systems and challenged democratic norms. Technological change is transforming how people access information, how governments deliver services, and how power is exercised and contested. International law and institutions are under more stress than they have been at any time since World War II. New institutions have been proposed, and some have taken root, stoking contestation over which are legitimate. Unprecedented political polarization and excessive concentrations of power in the hands of public officials and private actors raise questions of accountability on a broad scale. Meanwhile, urgent public problems persist despite decades of policy attention, raising questions about whether existing institutions possess the capacity not merely to identify challenges but to address them effectively.

These conditions raise profound and pressing questions about institutional design, reform, and renewal. Convening in Washington, D.C. shortly after the 250th anniversary of American independence, the 2027 Annual Meeting presents an appropriate moment to examine whether inherited institutional arrangements remain suited to contemporary challenges, and to consider what alternatives might look like.

Political scientists bring distinctive expertise to this inquiry. Our discipline studies how institutions emerge, function, adapt, and intermittently succeed and fail. We examine constitutional design and democratic consolidation, bureaucratic capacity and policy implementation, legislative performance and executive power, international regimes and global governance. We theorize legitimacy, representation, accountability, and the rule of law. The 2027 meeting invites scholars to bring these perspectives into conversation around a set of related questions: Are our governing institutions equipped to meet modern challenges? How would we know? And if they are not, what reforms are possible?

First Principles. Periods of institutional strain invite a reconsideration of foundational concepts. What purposes does constitutional government serve? What sustains the rule of law, and what undermines it? How should we understand sovereignty, legitimacy, and political obligation when existing arrangements come under pressure? How should we think about appropriate relationships between public and private institutions, as well as their overlap? If society cannot exist without political institutions, how centralized, coercive, and hierarchical do they need to be? Scholars are invited to bring historical and normative analysis to bear on questions of institutional formation, design, and justification.

Democratic Institutions and Democratic Decline. Across established and emerging democracies, core institutions—executives, legislatures, judiciaries, parties, and beyond—face challenges to their legitimacy and effectiveness. Under what conditions do democratic institutions thrive? What reforms have shown promise in restoring public trust and responsiveness? Scholars are encouraged to scrutinize and compare patterns of institutional stability and change.

Governance and the Capacity to Deliver. Policy intentions frequently diverge from policy outcomes. What explains persistent implementation gaps, and what institutional arrangements are associated with more effective governance? When and why do we see deviations between the demand for institutions and those that are supplied? We welcome scholarship that investigates the relationship between institutional design and the capacity of governments as well as public-private partnerships to deliver on public commitments.

Technology, AI, and Institutional Adaptation. Technological change is reshaping political life, yet our institutions are struggling to adapt. Artificial intelligence poses novel challenges for governance, from algorithmic decision-making to information integrity. How are institutions responding to these developments? What designs might enable governments to harness technological innovation while mitigating risks?

Global and Transnational Institutions. Many pressing challenges—climate, pandemics, migration, security, trade—transcend national borders, yet international institutional frameworks show signs of stress. What accounts for variation in the effectiveness of global governance arrangements? How will growing geopolitical rivalries influence the reform and creation of international institutions? Under what conditions do transnational institutions adapt successfully? Scholars are invited to assess institutional performance and explore alternatives to the current set of global and transnational institutions.

The 2027 meeting provides an occasion to deepen our understanding of institutional strain and institutional change. We welcome proposals from scholars across all subfields and methodological approaches and traditions who wish to engage the theme with empirical rigor and theoretical care.