SWEPSA Annual Conference 2021

SWEPSA 2021

SWEPSA 2021 will be arranged as a fully virtual event from September 29 to October 1. The conference will include a combination of workshops, a keynote speech and the annual SWEPSA meeting.

Professor Hanspeter Kriesi, European University Institute in Florens, will reflect in his keynote on the challenges for democracy that recent economic crisis are posing.

The full conference program can be found here.

Conference Opening and Welcome

The conference is opened and participants are welcomed by Professor Stefan Dahlberg, Mid Sweden University.

Wednesday September 29th 08.45-09.00

Join the event: https://miun-se.zoom.us/j/66977208611 

Professor Hanspeter Kriesi

Keynote speech: Professor Hanspeter Kriesi, European University Institute in Florens

Wednesday September 29th 13.15-14.30

Join the event: https://miun-se.zoom.us/j/68321749242 

Is there a crisis of democracy in Europe?

This presentation addresses the current talk about a crisis of democracy in Europe in the light of some empirical evidence about long-term trends and their articulation in Europe’s party systems. It suggests that the crisis talk is largely exaggerated. I present my argument in three steps. In step one, I adopt the perspective of the citizens and ask whether they adhere to the principles of democracy, and how they evaluate democracy in Europe. In fact, they largely support the principles, but are highly critical of the way they are currently implemented in their own country. In step two, I adopt the perspective of the voters and discuss the rise of populism in Europe. While acknowledging the rise of populism, I suggest that we need to be careful about how to interpret it. In particular, we need to distinguish between two forces on which it builds – the long-term structural change of society and political dissatisfaction. Finally, I turn to the perspective of the elites, i.e. to the question of what happens when populists get into power. I discuss five factors that serve to constrain the threat posed by populists in power – institutional, partisan, international, market constraints and constraints imposed by citizens. My overall assessment of the state of democracy in Europe is that there is reason for concern, but no reason for panic.

SWEPSA annual meeting 2021

During the conference the SWEPSA annual meeting will be held.

Thursday September 30th, between 13.00 and 15.00.

Join the event: https://miun-se.zoom.us/j/68360233963 

Läs eller ladda ner handlingar till förbundsmötet 2021

Participating without presenting

If you are interested in participating at the SWEPSA conference without presenting a paper you are welcome to contact the session chair (see Working groups). You need the zoom-link to participate.

Contact

swepsa@miun.se