Annual conferences
Political Studies Association of Ireland
Annual Conference 2026
CALL FOR PAPERS
Metropole Hotel Cork
16 – 18 October 2026
The annual conference of the PSAI will take place in Cork over the weekend 16 – 18 October 2026. Paper proposals are invited from all areas of the discipline including but not limited to the following: elections and referendums; voters and voting; political parties; gender and politics; environmental politics, deliberative innovations, government, governance, regulation and policy making; local government and administration; peace and conflict studies; international relations; political theory and philosophy; political history; political economy; politics, law and constitutions; teaching and learning in political science.
Procedures for Submitting a Panel or Paper Proposal
Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to psai@ucc.ie by 26 June 2026
Panel/paper abstracts should be submitted as a word attachment and include:
- Panel/paper title,
- Author names and affiliations,
- Professional status (PhD student, postdoc, lecturer, professor, independent scholar)
Panel proposals must include full abstracts and contact details for each paper. Panel proposals from specialist groups are especially welcome.
Notification of paper acceptances will be given in early July and paper givers will be asked to post their conference papers on the conference website by 1 October 2026. Registration for the conference will open in August and a draft programme will be shared in September.
Further information on the conference is available from the conference organising team at psai@ucc.ie
Theresa Reidy, Fiona Buckley and Aodh Quinlivan
Department of Government and Politics, UCC
Peter Mair Lecture
In 2012, the Political Studies Association of Ireland instituted the Peter Mair lecture in honour of one of Ireland’s most distinguished political scientists. The lecture is delivered at the Association’s annual conference and is to be published in Irish Political Studies. You can find the published lectures here. The lecture series to date includes:
2025 Caterina Froio (Sciences Po). Why political science (still) struggles with the far right (and how we move forward).
2024 Paul Webb (University of Sussex). ‘Reflections on Peter Mair’s Legacy.’
2023 Nicole Bolleyer (LMU Munich). ‘How to study political parties: from civil society to the state and back.’ [Video.]
2022 Fernando Casal Bertoa (University of Nottingham). ‘The Problem of Party System Change Revisited.’
2021 Catherine de Vries (Bocconi University). ‘Political Change in Europe: the Role of Political Entrepreneurs.’
2019 Simon Hix (London School of Economics and Political Science). ‘Remaking Democracy. Ireland as a Role-Model.’
2018 Anne Rasmussen (University of Copenhagen): ‘Policy Representation in Europe’
2017 Luca Verzichelli (Siena) ‘Back to Responsiveness: The Crisis and Challenges to the European Political
Elites’.
2016 Brigid Laffan (EUI) ‘Europe’s Union: Fractured Polity and Fractious Politics’
2015 Rudy Andeweg (Leiden) ‘Peter Mair on Representative Democracy’.
2014 Donatella Della Porta (EUI) ‘Political Cleavages in a Time of Austerity’.
2013 Kenneth Carty (British Columbia) ‘A natural governing party: Fianna Fáil in comparative perspective’.
2012 Ingrid van Biezen (Leiden) ‘The End of Party Democracy as we Know It?’.
Recent hosts of the PSAI Annual Conference
2025 – University of Galway
2024 – Trinity College Dublin
2023 – Queen’s University Belfast
2022 – South East Technological University, Waterford
2021 – University College Dublin
2020 – Online event
2019 – National University of Ireland, Maynooth
2018 – University of Limerick
2017 – Dublin City University
2016 – Queens University Belfast
2015 – University College Cork
2014 – National University of Ireland, Galway
2013 – Trinity College Dublin
2012 – University of Ulster, Magee
2011 – University College Dublin
2010 – Dublin Institute of Technology
2009 – Liverpool Hope University
2008 – National University of Ireland, Galway
2007 – Dublin City University
2006 – University College Cork