CALL FOR PAPERS
IPSA-RC 34, IPSA-RC 22, IPSA-RC 10
"Communication, Democracy and Digital Technology"
Hotel “Lone”, Rovinj, Croatia, 2 - 3 October 2015

The conference is organised by a committee formed from IPSA RC10 (Electronic Democracy), RC22 (Political Communication) and RC34 (Quality of Democracy). The conference is going to take place in cooperation with the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb.

The conference theme focuses on the intersection between the work of three strands of political science, all of which ask questions of vital importance for the well-being of democracy globally. These questions revolve around measures, standards and analyses of the quality of democracy, the role of political communication in enhancing democracy and the extent that information and communication technology offers potential for a richer, interactive and co-created politics. Without imposing any normative ontologies onto the discussion we enquire how communicative acts, particularly but not exclusively those which take place using digital technologies, contribute positively or negatively to the quality of the democratic experience for citizens and to sustaining active democracies.

We therefore invite papers which contribute theoretically and empirically to this and relevant debates. Papers should have the concept of democracy (political participation, engagement and deliberation) at their heart and make explicit links to the contribution from theory and practice of digital political communication either by governments, political parties or candidates, media organisations, citizens, non-governmental actors or social movements. Papers focusing on cross-national comparative analyses are particularly welcome.

Selection will be based on the submission of abstracts which should contain the following information:
• Title
• Author and Affiliation
• Core theoretical premise of the paper
• Methodology and relevant information on data collection and analysis
• Key findings or questions that analysis will address if ongoing research
Abstracts should not be longer than 500 words.
Abstracts should be emailed to ipsa2015@fpzg.hr and must be received by 20 January 2015. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 1 March 2015.

The conference will take place in Rovinj, one of the most picturesque towns in the Mediterranean (http://www.tzgrovinj.hr). For more information on paper submission, registration, location, travel and accommodation check http://www.fpzg.unizg.hr/en/ipsa_conference_croatia_2015.
If you have any questions about the conference please contact organising committee at ipsa2015@fpzg.hr or Dr Marijana Grbesa on behalf of the local partner, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb at grbesa@fpzg.hr.

Event fees
Conference fees include participation, conference packs, coffee breaks and welcome event.
Standard fee €120.00
Student fee €80.00
Please note that all participants wishing to attend need to pay a conference fee.

Key dates and deadlines
20 January 2015 Submission deadline
1 March 2015 Notification of acceptance
1 June 2015 Booking and registration deadline
1 September 2015 Full paper submission

Contact
Organising committee: ipsa2015@fpzg.hr
Local organiser: grbesa@fpzg.hr