Where will the ACPS Annual Conference be held?

The ACPS Annual Conference will be held in San Diego, USA.

What is the format of the ACPS Annual Conference?

The ACPS Annual Conference is an in-person event, providing a direct engagement format for participants in San Diego.

ACPS Annual Conference 2026

Name: ACPS Annual Conference 2026
Start: 2026-10-22T00:00:00Z
End: 2026-10-23T00:00:00Z
Location: San Diego

Oct 22–23, 2026San Diego, United StatesIn-person

Registration open

The ACPS Annual Conference is an upcoming event focused on critical issues in the field, scheduled to take place in San Diego, United States. This conference serves as a significant gathering for professionals and researchers to engage with current trends and future directions. The event is designed to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among participants.

Committees & topics

Topics
Political Institutions and Regime Dynamics · State–Society Relations, Public Opinion, and Political Behavior · Political Economy, Development, Regulation, and Inequality · Technology, Data Governance, and Digital Politics · Law, Courts, and Administrative Governance · Ethnic Politics, Border Regions, Center–Local Relations, and Subnational Politics · Chinese Foreign Policy and International Security · China in Comparative and Global Perspective

Why it matters

This conference is important because it provides a platform for in-depth discussions on topics that shape the professional landscape. By bringing together diverse perspectives in a concentrated setting, the event facilitates the development of new insights and strategies. The location in San Diego, USA, further emphasizes its role as a hub for intellectual exchange within the region.

The discussions and presentations at the conference are expected to influence policy considerations and practical applications in the coming years. The collective expertise present will contribute to a deeper understanding of complex challenges, encouraging innovative solutions and fostering a more informed global dialogue. This makes the conference a key event for anyone looking to stay abreast of developments and contribute to the field's advancement.

How to prepare

To effectively engage with the ACPS Annual Conference, attendees should consider preparing by familiarizing themselves with foundational concepts relevant to the field. Understanding the nuances of stakeholder engagement, as outlined in the lesson on "Engagement Strategies," will be particularly beneficial. Additionally, a review of "What Is Stakeholder Mapping?" and the "Stakeholder Mapping Workshop" can provide a robust framework for analyzing the various actors and their interests that will likely be discussed.

Participants should also consider how different perspectives might converge or diverge on key issues. Lessons such as "Dynamic Analysis" can help in anticipating and understanding the evolving nature of discussions. Furthermore, reflecting on "Hidden Stakeholders" can prompt a more comprehensive consideration of less obvious but influential actors, enriching contributions to the conference's dialogues. This preparation will enable attendees to not only absorb information but also to actively participate and contribute meaningfully to the discourse.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

United States

Host nation for the conference.

Role in topic

As the host country, USA provides the venue in San Diego for this international gathering, facilitating discussions and collaborations among attendees from various backgrounds.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Political Institutions and Regime Dynamics

The study of political institutions and regime dynamics in China centers on how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has adapted, centralized, and personalized power since 1949, and especially under Xi Jinping after 2012. Reforms in the post-Mao era introduced term limits, collective leadership, and a degree of institutionalized succession, but the 2018 constitutional amendment abolishing presidential term limits, the elevation of Xi Jinping Thought, and the consolidation of party leadership over state organs have reversed several of those trends. Parallel developments include the restructuring of the Central Military Commission, the creation of new leading small groups and commissions, and the absorption of state functions into party bodies. Comparativists place these shifts within a broader global pattern of democratic backsliding and autocratic resilience. Debates focus on whether China represents a distinctive 'adaptive authoritarianism,' a personalist turn, or a hybrid system in which meritocratic recruitment coexists with ideological discipline. The anti-corruption campaign, cadre evaluation reforms, and the 20th Party Congress reshuffle have all sharpened questions about elite circulation, factional balance, and policy feedback loops. Today, scholars are reassessing how regime type shapes crisis response, succession risk, and long-term governance capacity, particularly after the abrupt end of zero-COVID and amid slowing growth. The dynamics of one-party rule under conditions of economic deceleration form a central research frontier.

Key players

State–Society Relations, Public Opinion, and Political Behavior

Research on state–society relations in China examines how citizens engage with, contest, and adapt to an authoritarian state that combines responsive governance with expanding surveillance. Decades of fieldwork have documented petitioning, 'rightful resistance,' labor protests, NGO activity, and online expression, alongside the state's tools for consultation, co-optation, and repression. Reforms such as the 2017 Foreign NGO Law, tightening of religious regulations, and the post-2015 crackdown on rights lawyers have narrowed civic space, while grid management and social credit pilots have extended administrative reach into everyday life. Public opinion research—through surveys, online text analysis, and experiments—has revealed substantial regime support that is nonetheless conditional on performance, particularly economic growth, public goods provision, and corruption control. The COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 'A4' protests, and rising youth unemployment have prompted renewed scrutiny of the durability of legitimacy, generational shifts in political values, and the role of nationalism in shaping attitudes toward both the leadership and the outside world. The contemporary agenda asks how Chinese citizens form preferences under information control, how protest and compliance coexist, and how digital platforms reshape collective action and the state's capacity to monitor and respond.

Key players

Political Economy, Development, Regulation, and Inequality

China's political economy has shifted from the high-growth, export- and investment-led model of the 2000s to a more constrained landscape marked by debt overhangs, demographic decline, a protracted property downturn since 2021, and a renewed emphasis on industrial policy, 'common prosperity,' and self-reliance in strategic sectors. The 2013 Third Plenum reforms promised a 'decisive role' for the market, but subsequent years have seen state-owned enterprises reinforced, the private sector subjected to regulatory campaigns (notably against fintech and platforms beginning in 2020), and capital allocation steered toward manufacturing, semiconductors, and clean energy. Inequality, regional disparities, and the hukou system remain core analytical concerns. Land finance, local government financing vehicles (LGFVs), and the social safety net's uneven coverage shape both household behavior and macroeconomic risk. Scholars also examine how regulatory institutions—including the State Administration for Market Regulation and financial supervisors—have been restructured, and how anti-monopoly, data, and environmental rules interact with industrial strategy. The contemporary debate centers on whether China can rebalance toward consumption, manage local debt without systemic disruption, and sustain innovation under tightening external technology controls, while addressing intergenerational inequality and youth labor-market distress.

Key players

Technology, Data Governance, and Digital Politics

China has built one of the world's most extensive digital governance regimes, combining a globally competitive technology industry with comprehensive state controls over information, data, and platforms. Foundational laws—the 2017 Cybersecurity Law, 2021 Data Security Law, and 2021 Personal Information Protection Law—established overlapping obligations on cross-border data flows, critical information infrastructure, and personal data, while sectoral rules now cover algorithmic recommendation systems, deep synthesis, and generative AI (interim measures effective August 2023). These frameworks coexist with the Great Firewall, real-name registration, and a maturing apparatus for content moderation and online public-opinion management. Domestically, platform regulation since 2020 has reshaped firms such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Didi, while industrial policy has poured resources into semiconductors, AI, and cloud infrastructure under conditions of US export controls tightened in 2022 and 2023. Internationally, China promotes 'cyber sovereignty,' participates actively in ITU and UN cyber processes, and exports digital infrastructure through the Digital Silk Road. Current research interrogates the political logic of Chinese data governance, the feedback between regulation and innovation, and how China's model influences—and competes with—EU and US approaches to platform and AI governance.

Key players

China
Architect of a distinctive digital governance and AI regulatory model
United States
Primary technology rival and source of export controls shaping Chinese strategy
EUR
Regulatory comparator via GDPR, DSA, and the AI Act (treated as EU bloc)
India
Major democratic comparator on data localization and platform regulation
Russia
Co-proponent with China of cyber sovereignty norms in UN cyber processes

Law, Courts, and Administrative Governance

Legal reform in China since 1978 has produced a vast statutory corpus, professionalized judiciary, and increasingly sophisticated administrative law, while remaining embedded in a party-led system that rejects judicial independence in the liberal sense. The 2014 Fourth Plenum endorsed 'governing the country according to law,' followed by judicial accountability reforms, the creation of circuit tribunals and specialized IP and internet courts, and the codification of the Civil Code in 2020. At the same time, the 2018 establishment of the National Supervisory Commission folded anti-corruption enforcement into a party-state hybrid body operating partly outside the ordinary criminal process. Administrative governance has been reorganized through successive State Council restructurings, with new ministries and bureaus for data, financial regulation, and ecological environment. Administrative litigation has expanded, yet courts remain constrained in politically sensitive cases, and lawyers face heightened professional risk following the 2015 '709' crackdown. Comparative scholarship analyzes how rule-by-law, bureaucratic incentives, and informal norms shape outcomes in areas ranging from commercial disputes to social stability cases. Current debates focus on how legal institutions adapt under stronger party leadership, the role of digital tools in courts and administration, and the implications of China's legal model for cross-border commerce and human rights.

Key players

Ethnic Politics, Border Regions, Center–Local Relations, and Subnational Politics

China's territorial governance combines a unitary constitutional framework with significant subnational variation across provinces, autonomous regions, and special administrative regions. Ethnic policy, historically based on the 1950s minzu classification and a system of regional ethnic autonomy, has shifted markedly since the mid-2010s toward 'forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation,' with intensified securitization in Xinjiang following 2017 and tightened policies in Tibet and Inner Mongolia, including changes to language-of-instruction rules. UN human rights bodies and OHCHR's 2022 Xinjiang assessment have made these policies a focus of international scrutiny. Hong Kong's trajectory since the 2019 protests, the 2020 National Security Law, and the 2024 Article 23 legislation has redefined center–periphery relations under 'one country, two systems,' while Macao remains comparatively quiescent. Across the mainland, center–local dynamics are shaped by fiscal centralization since 1994, cadre evaluation, land finance, and the post-2021 squeeze on local government debt. Subnational variation in policy implementation—on environment, COVID-19 controls, and industrial policy—remains a central empirical puzzle. The contemporary agenda asks how Beijing balances assimilationist ethnic policy, security imperatives in border regions, and the fiscal and administrative capacity of local governments increasingly constrained by debt and demographic change.

Key players

Chinese Foreign Policy and International Security

Chinese foreign policy has shifted from Deng-era 'hide and bide' restraint to a more assertive posture under Xi Jinping, framed by concepts including the 'community of common destiny,' the Belt and Road Initiative (launched 2013), and the Global Development, Security, and Civilization Initiatives announced from 2021 onward. Strategic competition with the United States has deepened across trade, technology, and military domains, while China has expanded its diplomatic footprint—exemplified by the 2023 brokering of Saudi–Iranian rapprochement—and grown the PLA Navy into the world's largest by hull count. Key flashpoints include the Taiwan Strait, where PLA activity has intensified since 2022; the South China Sea, where Beijing's claims clash with Philippine, Vietnamese, and Malaysian positions and a 2016 arbitral ruling it rejects; and the Sino-Indian border, scene of the 2020 Galwan clashes. China's 'no-limits' partnership with Russia declared in February 2022, its tacit support during the war in Ukraine, and its expanding role in BRICS+ have sharpened debates about whether Beijing is revising or selectively contesting the international order. Current analysis focuses on nuclear modernization, alliance counter-strategies such as AUKUS and updated US–Japan–Korea cooperation, and how China balances global ambitions against domestic economic constraints.

Key players

China in Comparative and Global Perspective

Placing China in comparative and global perspective has become a defining methodological challenge as the country grows too large to treat as a single 'area studies' case yet too distinctive to fold seamlessly into universalist frameworks. Comparativists situate China alongside other large developing states, post-socialist transitions, and contemporary authoritarian regimes to examine questions of state capacity, industrial policy, inequality, and political legitimacy. The literature draws on cases ranging from Vietnam's parallel reform path to Russia's divergent trajectory, and from East Asian developmental states to Latin American middle-income economies. Globally, China's rise has reshaped trade, finance, technology, climate negotiations, and global governance institutions. As the largest emitter and largest manufacturer of clean energy technologies, China is central to climate diplomacy following the Paris Agreement and the 2023 UAE Consensus. Through the Belt and Road, the AIIB, the New Development Bank, and expanded BRICS membership since 2024, Beijing has become a major provider of development finance and an active participant in reform debates at the IMF, World Bank, and UN. The contemporary research agenda asks how China both shapes and is shaped by global structures, whether its model is exportable or sui generis, and how scholars can integrate Chinese cases into general theories without distortion in either direction.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for ACPS Annual Conference 2026.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis 2026

Rahul Gandhi Defends Tamil Nadu's Autonomy

India's 131st Amendment Bill

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Gender Dynamics Across Cultures

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Policy Brief Writing

Media & Press Relations

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

United States October 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

ACPS Annual Conference 2026

Oct 22–23, 2026San Diego, United StatesIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Political Institutions and Regime Dynamics · State–Society Relations, Public Opinion, and Political Behavior · Political Economy, Development, Regulation, and Inequality · Technology, Data Governance, and Digital Politics · Law, Courts, and Administrative Governance · Ethnic Politics, Border Regions, Center–Local Relations, and Subnational Politics · Chinese Foreign Policy and International Security · China in Comparative and Global Perspective

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

United States

Host nation for the conference.

Role in topic

As the host country, USA provides the venue in San Diego for this international gathering, facilitating discussions and collaborations among attendees from various backgrounds.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Political Institutions and Regime Dynamics

Key players

State–Society Relations, Public Opinion, and Political Behavior

Key players

Political Economy, Development, Regulation, and Inequality

Key players

Technology, Data Governance, and Digital Politics

Key players

China
Architect of a distinctive digital governance and AI regulatory model
United States
Primary technology rival and source of export controls shaping Chinese strategy
EUR
Regulatory comparator via GDPR, DSA, and the AI Act (treated as EU bloc)
India
Major democratic comparator on data localization and platform regulation
Russia
Co-proponent with China of cyber sovereignty norms in UN cyber processes

Law, Courts, and Administrative Governance

Key players

Ethnic Politics, Border Regions, Center–Local Relations, and Subnational Politics

Key players

Chinese Foreign Policy and International Security

Key players

China in Comparative and Global Perspective

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for ACPS Annual Conference 2026.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis 2026

Rahul Gandhi Defends Tamil Nadu's Autonomy

India's 131st Amendment Bill

West Bengal Voter Deletion Crisis

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Gender Dynamics Across Cultures

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Policy Brief Writing

Media & Press Relations

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

United States October 2026

By committee

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

The Future of U.S. & China Conference 2026: A Shifting Global Order

Turkey's evolving role in a new global geopolitical and security order

2026 Jordan Center Masters and Undergraduate Research Symposium

Pakistan Conference @ Harvard 2026

2026 AGS Geopolitical Leadership Summit

Gathering for a New Lebanon

Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

The Future of U.S. & China Conference 2026: A Shifting Global Order

Turkey's evolving role in a new global geopolitical and security order

2026 Jordan Center Masters and Undergraduate Research Symposium

Pakistan Conference @ Harvard 2026

2026 AGS Geopolitical Leadership Summit

Gathering for a New Lebanon

Frequently asked questions