Date: 22 – 24 February 2017

Location: University of Münster, Germany

The conference addresses the origin and prospects of democracy and dictatorship, policy control and governance structures in comparative political systems and transition processes from dictatorship to democracy and vice versa. We will have up to 36 papers presented in three parallel sessions, in addition to four keynote lectures. Bringing together scholars that are interested in interdisciplinary work comparing political systems is our focus.

We welcome theoretical as well as empirical papers by both economists and other social scientists with an interdisciplinary background. In particular, papers may cover topics such as:

• Institutional change and prosperity
• Constitutional history of democracy
• Political accountability in autocracies
• Violence and political stability
• Political economy of revolutions
• Culture, religion, and political Institutions

Keynote Speakers:

• Toke Aidt, Cambridge University, UK
• Sabine Carey, University of Mannheim, Germany
• Barry Weingast, Stanford University, USA
• Ronald Wintrobe, Western University, CA

Hosts:

• Thomas Apolte, University of Münster, Germany
• Mario Gilli, Bicocca University Milan, Italy
• Yuan Li, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Deadlines and Submission:

• Abstract submission deadline August 1, 2016 (see conference webpage)
• Notification of acceptance August 31, 2016
• Full paper submission deadline December 31, 2016
• Registration open until January 15, 2017