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We are inviting applications from doctoral students for a summer school on the topic of “Challenges to Electoral Democracy.” The summer school will take the form of a five-day program, and consists of lectures by experts in the field as well as time for the presentation of students’ papers. The summer school will cover a broad range of topics, with attention for varying challenges that democratic countries are facing, such as illiberalism, misinformation, or populism.

Program

• Tuesday, July 1: Impact of Artificial Intelligence – Aina Gallego (University of Barcelona)
• Wednesday, July 2: Media and campaign effects – Florian Foos (London School of Economics)
• Thursday, July 3: Far-right and populist parties – Sarah de Lange (University of Amsterdam)
• Friday, July 4: Misinformation, rumors, and hate speech – Simon Chauchard (University Carlos III, Madrid)
• Saturday, July 5: Illiberalism – Jan Rovny (Sciences Po, Paris)

Format
Each day, a different lecturer will cover a specific topic during the morning (see detailed program). In the afternoon, students will present a research paper or dissertation project, and will receive feedback on their work from the professor teaching the morning course or from the conference organizers, as well as from fellow students. Accepted students will be asked to circulate their projects or papers by June 10, 2025.

Audience
Doctoral students in political science who conduct research on democracy, challenges to democracy, elections, public opinion, political psychology, or political representation. We are seeking for a mix of beginning and more advanced doctoral students. Beginning students can present their dissertation project, and the more advanced students can present a research paper. The number of participants is limited to 15.

Costs and venue
There are no registration fees for this summer school. We also cover the costs for accommodation at the in Paris (from June 31 to July 6), and for lunches during the summer school.
Participants have to secure their own funding for traveling to Paris.

How to apply?
Provide your information, including an abstract of the paper you would like to present (max. 300 words) using the following form:

The deadline to apply is February 17. Decisions on acceptance will be sent by mid-March. If you have any questions, you can contact Ruth Dassonneville (ruth.dassonneville@kuleuven.be) and Romain Lachat (romain.lachat@sciencespo.fr).