What is the primary focus of this political science congress?

The congress provides a forum for discussing contemporary political issues, including autocratization and democratic backsliding, in a conference format.

XIV Congreso Internacional de Ciencia Política

Name: XIV Congreso Internacional de Ciencia Política
Start: 2026-09-22T00:00:00Z
End: 2026-09-25T00:00:00Z
Location: Aguascalientes

Sep 22–25, 2026Aguascalientes, MexicoIn-person

Registration open

The XIV International Congress of Political Science, hosted in Aguascalientes, MEX, serves as a significant forum for scholars and practitioners in the field. This event provides a platform for in-depth discussions and the presentation of research findings on critical political phenomena. It is designed to foster intellectual exchange and collaboration among participants from various academic and professional backgrounds.

Committees & topics

Topics
Autocratization, Democratic Backsliding, and Shifts in the International System · Public Administration and Public Policy · Political Communication, Public Opinion, and Social Media · Philosophy, Theory, and Political Science · Violence, Human Rights, and Peacebuilding · International Relations and Human Mobility · Gender Studies · Democracies and Authoritarianisms

Why it matters

This congress is a pivotal gathering for political scientists, researchers, and policymakers, offering an opportunity to delve into pressing global and regional political challenges. The discussions and presentations contribute to a deeper understanding of political systems, governance, and international relations. By bringing together diverse perspectives, the event facilitates the development of innovative solutions and theoretical advancements in political science.

The insights generated from such conferences are vital for informing policy decisions and shaping public discourse. The exchange of ideas on topics like autocratization and democratic backsliding can illuminate pathways for strengthening democratic institutions and addressing threats to political stability. For those engaged in diplomatic work, understanding these evolving political landscapes is essential for effective engagement and strategy formulation.

How to prepare

For those preparing to engage with the themes of autocratization and democratic backsliding, a thorough understanding of the various manifestations and drivers of these phenomena is crucial. Consider exploring how these trends impact different regions and political systems, drawing on case studies from countries such as HUN, TUR, and VEN, where such processes have been observed. Analyzing the role of internal and external factors, as well as the responses of civil society and international actors, will provide a comprehensive perspective.

Delegates should also consider the implications of these political shifts on international cooperation and global governance. How do these domestic political changes influence a country's foreign policy and its engagement with multilateral institutions? Understanding these dynamics is key to effective diplomacy and strategic planning. Resources such as the Model Diplomat lesson on "Engagement Strategies" can offer valuable frameworks for navigating complex political environments and fostering productive dialogue.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 4 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Mexico

As the host nation, MEX provides a relevant backdrop for discussions on political science, particularly concerning democratic processes and regional stability.

Role in topic

MEX offers a unique perspective on democratic evolution and challenges within North America, making it a pertinent location for examining themes of autocratization and democratic backsliding.

United States

The USA's role as a global democratic power and its influence on international norms are central to discussions on democratic backsliding.

Role in topic

The USA's domestic political developments and its foreign policy approaches significantly impact the global discourse on democracy and authoritarianism, providing a critical comparative lens for analysis.

China

CHN represents a major non-democratic power whose political model and global influence are key considerations in discussions of autocratization.

Role in topic

The rise of CHN as a global actor and its distinct political system offer a contrasting perspective to democratic models, influencing debates on governance and international order.

Russia

RUS's political trajectory and its assertive foreign policy are critical for understanding contemporary challenges to democratic norms and international stability.

Role in topic

RUS's actions and internal political dynamics are often cited in discussions about autocratization and its implications for international relations, providing important case study material.

Topics & background

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

Autocratization, Democratic Backsliding, and Shifts in the International System

Since the mid-2000s, indices such as V-Dem and Freedom House have documented a sustained global trend of democratic backsliding, with more states moving toward electoral authoritarianism than toward liberal democracy for the first time in decades. Cases ranging from Hungary and Poland in the EU, to Turkey, India, Tunisia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and El Salvador illustrate how elected leaders have eroded judicial independence, media pluralism, and electoral integrity from within, often without classical coups. This 'third wave of autocratization' coincides with a weakening of the post-1989 liberal international order and the assertiveness of revisionist powers. The phenomenon is reinforced by transnational dynamics: authoritarian learning and diffusion, the export of surveillance technology, disinformation operations, and the strategic use of economic statecraft by China and Russia to offer alternative models of governance and development finance. Simultaneously, Western democracies have struggled with polarization, declining trust in institutions, and the rise of illiberal populism, weakening their credibility as norm-setters. Multilateral bodies such as the OAS, EU, and UN Human Rights Council face increasing difficulty applying democratic conditionalities. Today the debate centers on whether the international system is entering a durable multipolar and post-liberal phase, how regional organizations can respond to incumbent capture of state institutions, and what tools — sanctions, election observation, civil society support — remain effective when democratic erosion happens gradually and legally.

Key players

Public Administration and Public Policy

The study of public administration and public policy has evolved from classical Weberian bureaucracy through New Public Management (NPM) reforms of the 1980s–90s, which emphasized efficiency, privatization, and performance metrics, to contemporary frameworks of New Public Governance, digital government, and evidence-based policymaking. Latin American states in particular have undergone successive reform waves: structural adjustment in the 1990s, second-generation institutional reforms in the 2000s, and more recent efforts at open government, transparency, and citizen participation under the Open Government Partnership. Current challenges include implementing digital transformation while protecting data rights, designing social policies resilient to fiscal shocks revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic, combating corruption through integrity systems, and adapting administrative structures to climate adaptation, migration, and inequality. The OECD, CLAD, and World Bank have produced extensive comparative diagnostics on state capacity gaps, particularly in subnational governments. Debates today focus on how to rebuild state capacities after years of austerity and outsourcing, how to govern algorithms and AI in public decision-making, and how to balance technocratic expertise with democratic legitimacy in policy design and evaluation.

Key players

Philosophy, Theory, and Political Science

Political theory has long oscillated between normative inquiry — justice, legitimacy, freedom, equality — and the empirical study of power and institutions that defines much of contemporary political science. The 20th century saw foundational contributions from Weber, Schmitt, Arendt, Rawls, Habermas, and Foucault, alongside the behavioral and rational-choice revolutions in the discipline. Latin American political thought has contributed distinctive currents on dependency, populism, decoloniality, and republicanism, drawing on authors such as O'Donnell, Laclau, Dussel, and Mariátegui. Today the field grapples with the challenges of pluralizing the canon, integrating gender and decolonial perspectives, and responding to phenomena that classical categories struggle to capture: hybrid regimes, algorithmic governance, climate politics, and post-truth public spheres. Methodological debates persist between qualitative, quantitative, and interpretive approaches, as well as on the discipline's public role. Central questions include how political theory should engage with empirical crises of democracy, what conceptual tools best illuminate non-Western and Global South political experiences, and how the discipline can remain rigorous while addressing urgent normative dilemmas of inequality, technology, and ecological transformation.

Key players

Violence, Human Rights, and Peacebuilding

Since the end of the Cold War, the nature of armed conflict has shifted from interstate war toward intrastate conflicts, criminal violence, and 'hybrid' insecurity involving state and non-state actors. Latin America, while largely free of interstate war, concentrates a disproportionate share of global homicides and has been deeply marked by armed conflict (Colombia, Central America), authoritarian legacies, and the violence of organized crime. The international human rights regime — anchored in the UN system, the Inter-American Commission and Court, and the Rome Statute — has expanded the toolkit available to victims and advocates but faces backlash from sovereigntist governments. Peacebuilding doctrine evolved from Boutros-Ghali's 1992 Agenda for Peace through liberal peace approaches to today's emphasis on sustaining peace, transitional justice, and victim-centered processes. The 2016 Colombian peace accord with the FARC, ongoing dialogues with the ELN, and the search for negotiated exits to violence in Mexico and Central America illustrate both the promise and the limits of comprehensive peace agendas amid persistent inequalities and weak state presence. Debates focus on how to confront organized criminal violence within human rights frameworks, the role of truth commissions and reparations, the protection of human rights defenders and journalists, and how to integrate gender and ethnic perspectives into peace processes.

Key players

International Relations and Human Mobility

Human mobility has become a defining issue of contemporary international relations. The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol established the core protection regime, complemented regionally by the 1984 Cartagena Declaration, which broadened the refugee definition in Latin America. The 2018 Global Compact for Migration and Global Compact on Refugees sought to articulate shared, though non-binding, principles of cooperation. Yet displacement has surged to record levels — over 110 million forcibly displaced people worldwide — driven by conflict in Syria, Ukraine, Sudan, and Myanmar, the Venezuelan exodus of more than 7 million people, mixed flows through the Darién Gap, and climate-related displacement. Receiving states have oscillated between humanitarian openness and securitization, with externalization policies (EU–Turkey deal, U.S.–Mexico cooperation, U.K.–Rwanda scheme) increasingly common. Latin America has experimented with regional protection mechanisms such as the Quito Process and Brazil's Operação Acolhida, while transit countries face strained capacities. Remittances, brain drain, diaspora politics, and labor migration agreements add further layers to the international politics of mobility. Key debates include the tension between sovereignty and protection obligations, responsibility sharing among states, the recognition of climate displacement, and the governance of mixed migratory flows that blur refugee, economic migrant, and victim-of-crime categories.

Key players

Gender Studies

Gender studies as a field consolidated through successive feminist waves and the international codification of women's rights, from the 1979 CEDAW Convention to the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action and, in the Americas, the 1994 Belém do Pará Convention against violence against women. The UN's Sustainable Development Goal 5 and Women, Peace and Security agenda (UNSCR 1325) further institutionalized gender equality as a transversal concern in development and security policy. Latin America has witnessed both major advances — parity laws, the 'Green Wave' for abortion rights in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, recognition of same-sex marriage in several countries — and severe setbacks, including persistently high femicide rates and rising anti-gender backlash. LGBTQ+ rights have expanded through landmark Inter-American Court rulings and domestic reforms, even as conservative and religious movements organize transnationally against 'gender ideology.' Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and intersectional feminisms have reshaped the field, demanding analyses that articulate race, class, and coloniality alongside gender. Current debates address how to close persistent gaps in political representation and economic participation, how to confront gender-based violence and femicide, the politics of care economies, the regulation of reproductive rights, and how to defend gender-equality frameworks against organized backlash in domestic and multilateral arenas.

Key players

Democracies and Authoritarianisms

The post-Cold War expectation of a near-universal expansion of liberal democracy has given way to a more complex landscape of hybrid regimes, competitive authoritarianisms, and full autocracies. Scholars from Linz and Stepan to Levitsky and Way, O'Donnell, and Schedler have mapped the gray zones between democracy and dictatorship, emphasizing how elections can coexist with the erosion of horizontal accountability, civil liberties, and judicial independence. Latin America illustrates the full spectrum: consolidated democracies under stress (Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica), eroding democracies (Mexico, Brazil at different moments), competitive authoritarian regimes, and outright dictatorships (Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela). Globally, the resilience of authoritarian regimes in China, Russia, the Gulf, and Central Asia, as well as military coups in the Sahel and Myanmar, challenge earlier modernization-theory assumptions. Authoritarian regimes have proved adept at using elections, courts, and constitutions instrumentally, while democracies confront populism, polarization, and declining institutional trust. Comparative research increasingly focuses on the mechanisms of democratic erosion, the conditions for democratic resilience, and the role of civil society, courts, and international actors. Central questions include how to classify and measure regimes accurately, what explains divergent trajectories of consolidation and breakdown, how authoritarian and democratic regimes interact internationally, and what reforms can strengthen democratic accountability in highly unequal and polarized societies.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for XIV Congreso Internacional de Ciencia Política.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

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Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

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

Country dossier

Country dossier

Mexico September 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

XIV Congreso Internacional de Ciencia Política

Sep 22–25, 2026Aguascalientes, MexicoIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Autocratization, Democratic Backsliding, and Shifts in the International System · Public Administration and Public Policy · Political Communication, Public Opinion, and Social Media · Philosophy, Theory, and Political Science · Violence, Human Rights, and Peacebuilding · International Relations and Human Mobility · Gender Studies · Democracies and Authoritarianisms

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 4 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Mexico

As the host nation, MEX provides a relevant backdrop for discussions on political science, particularly concerning democratic processes and regional stability.

Role in topic

MEX offers a unique perspective on democratic evolution and challenges within North America, making it a pertinent location for examining themes of autocratization and democratic backsliding.

United States

The USA's role as a global democratic power and its influence on international norms are central to discussions on democratic backsliding.

Role in topic

China

CHN represents a major non-democratic power whose political model and global influence are key considerations in discussions of autocratization.

Role in topic

The rise of CHN as a global actor and its distinct political system offer a contrasting perspective to democratic models, influencing debates on governance and international order.

Russia

RUS's political trajectory and its assertive foreign policy are critical for understanding contemporary challenges to democratic norms and international stability.

Role in topic

RUS's actions and internal political dynamics are often cited in discussions about autocratization and its implications for international relations, providing important case study material.