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.

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

About the venue

Hotel Lone is a unique design hotel in Croatia. Featuring an impeccable blend of luxury, beauty, style and cultural heritage, the five star boutique hotel is a perfect leisure and business destination. For more information check http://www.lonehotel.com/en/

Accommodation

Preferential rates have been negotiated in hotels Lone and Eden for the participants of the Conference. Hotels are located next to each other and are within a 10 minutes walk from the beautiful city centre. For more information about hotels check http://www.lonehotel.com/en/ and http://www.maistra.com/Eden_Rovinj.

For exquisite preferential rates and additional early birds discount please keep checking our conference website

Travel

Rovinj is only 30 minutes away from Pula airport which is very well connected with several European airports. Rovinj can also be easily reached via Trieste, Zagreb and Ljubljana. Special conference shuttles will be organised at all times from all these airports to Rovinj and from Rovinj to these airports.