Weltregionen im Vergleich: Polity, Politics und Policy

Topic: The "rise of Africa", the "Euro crisis", and the "Arab Spring" – these are keywords that draw attention to current developments in various world regions. The DVPW Comparative Political Science Section Conference in February 2015 will be dedicated to the political dynamics within and between world regions. The goal is to look at current political science research on political institutions and processes – including the relevant actors and political decisions – in all parts of the world.

Goal: The conference aims to examine the patterns, causes and effects of regional similarities and differences in all areas of comparative political science. It will also investigate the connections between these elements and global and regional organizations and regulatory mechanisms.

• The conception and methodological approaches of analyzing of world regions from a comparative perspective

• The examination of relations between state, regime, the region, and the global level

• The causes of regional differences and their effects on political processes, political institutions, and policy fields

• The analysis of non-state actors and their interactions with formal and informal institutions within and between regions

• The combination of various qualitative and quantitative methods with the goal of better understanding and explaining phenomena within and between regions

Structure: A panel is two hours long and should deal with a maximum of four papers (in the case of a much higher number of papers, double panels are also possible). The conference languages are German and English.

Organizers: The two conference organizers are Thomas Richter und Christian von Soest from the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.