September 3-6, 2026 | Boston, MA
More than 35 scholars from the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) will contribute to over 40 panels, sessions, and special events as authors, presenters, chairs, and discussants. Their research ranges across American politics, public administration, international relations, judicial politics, political behavior, and emerging technologies – showcasing the breadth of scholarship and expertise across SPIA.
See the schedule below to find our faculty and student experts:
Thursday, Sept. 3
“Identity, Elites, and Political Competition in Southeast Asia”
8:00-9:30am
Chair – Jangai Jap, University of Georgia
“The Architecture of Betrayal: Networks, Subversion, and Survival in Autocracies”
8:00 to 9:30am
Presenter – (Paper) Leveraging Small Size: Ethnic Stacking and Authoritarian Loyalty – Salam Alsaadi, University of Georgia
“Belonging, Citizenship, Inclusion”
10:00 to 11:30am
Non-presenting co-author– (Paper) Passport Power, International Mobility, and US Naturalization Patterns – Idean Salehyan, University of Georgia
“Prejudice, Dehumanization, and Intergroup Hostility”
10:00 to 11:30am
Non-presenting coauthor – (Paper) An Analysis of How Ideology, Policy Attitudes, and Partisanship Drive Hostility – Alexa Bankert, University of Georgia
“When Politics Meets Personnel Management in the Public Sector”
12:00-1:30pm
Chair – George A. Krause, University of Georgia
“AI-Generated Misinformation and AI-Powered Interventions”
2:00-3:00pm
Non-presenting co-author – (Paper) Beyond Deception: A Functional Typology of Political Deepfakes – Christina Walker, University of Georgia
“Contested Commons: Climate, Space, and the Arctic”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Discussant – Bree Laura Bang-Jensen, University of Georgia
“Democracy under Threat: New Comparative Research on Polarization”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Discussant – Alexa Bankert, University of Georgia
“Executive Partnerships: Intergovernmental and Intragovernmental Relations”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Presenters – (Paper) Unity in Executive Branch Governance Contributes to Administrative Inequality – George A. Krause, University of Georgia
“Judicial Decision-Making and Ideology”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) Yay and Nay? Vote Switching on Federal Judicial Nominations – Jonathan King, University of Georgia
“Mobilization and Perceptions of Democracy in Myanmar”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Chair – Jangai Jap, University of Georgia
“Rethinking Authority and Compliance in Chinese Politics”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Chair – Rongbin Han, University of Georgia
“Opinion Dynamics and Political Representation”
4:00 to 5:30pm
Chair – Emma Bibina, University of Georgia
“Partisanship and Electoral Incentives in Legislative Politics”
4:00 to 5:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) Presidential Politics and Legislators’ Changing Electoral Incentives – Joshua Baldwin, University of Georgia; non-presenting co-author Jamie L. Carson, University of Georgia
Friday, Sept. 4
“Power Asymmetries in Global Governance”
8:00 to 9:30am
Presenters – (Paper) Discursive Shifts in Global Governance of Autonomous Weapons – Naomi Egel, University of Georgia; Non-presenting co-author, Camilia Livio, University of Georgia
“Criminal Justice and Sentencing”
8:00 to 9:30am
Presenters – (Paper) Divergent Trust: Ideology and Confidence in Police, Prosecutors, and Judges – Jamie L. Carson, University of Georgia; Joshua Baldwin, University of Georgia
“From Memory to Materiality: Transitional Justice, Governance, and Conflict”
8:00 to 9:30am
Chair – Eduardo Burkle, University of Georgia
Presenter – (Paper) Transitional Justice and Political Memory: Reparations and Victim Stigmatization – Eduardo Burkle, University of Georgia
“Markets and the Authoritarian State: Sectors in China’s Industrial Revolution”
8:00 to 9:30am
Non-presenting co-author– (Paper) Policy Choice under the Shadow of Risk: China’s Local Industrial Policies – Ning He, University of Georgia
“Presidential Unilateralism and Executive Orders”
12:00-1:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) Beyond Institutional Constraint: Political Capital and Strategic Unilateralism – Yao Yao, University of Georgia
“Partisanship and Party Transformation”
12:00-1:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) A Republic, Not a Democracy: Description of the U.S. Political System in Congress – Geoffrey Sheagley, University of Georgia
“Affective Polarization: Interventions and Misperceptions”
12:00 to 1:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) Stoking the Fire: How Highlighting Polarization Fuels Partisan Hostility – Alexa Bankert, University of Georgia
“Contemporary Voting Rights and Behavior of Minoritized Groups”
12:00 to 1:30pm
Chair – Laura Uribe, University of Georgia
Presenter – (Paper) Partnering with Public Officials Builds Election Trust among Diverse Communities – Laura Uribe, University of Georgia
“Elite Polarization and Its Institutional Consequences”
12:00 to 1:30pm
Chair – Scott H. Ainsworth, University of Georgia
“Institutional Reform and Court Structure”
12:00 to 1:30pm
Discussant – Jessica Schoenherr, University of Georgia
Non-presenting co-author– (Paper) The Changing Value of Experience and Credentials at the U.S. Supreme Court – Jessica Schoenherr, University of Georgia
“Contested Territory, International Law, and Foreign Policy”
12:00 to 1:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) The Territorial Peace vs. the Democratic Peace: An Empirical Analysis – Andrew Owsiak, University of Georgia
“Looking Inside International Institutions”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Discussant – Bree Laura Bang-Jensen, University of Georgia
“Digital Governance, Legislation, and Regime Adaptation in China”
4:00 to 5:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) China’s Digital Charm Offensive and Authoritarian Legitimation – Rongbin Han, University of Georgia
“Diplomatic Signaling and International Status”
4:00 to 5:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) Who Goes to the West? Western-Educated Leaders and Diplomatic Engagement – Joowon Yi, University of Georgia
“Exit from International Institutions”
4:00 to 5:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) When Breaking Promises Is Acceptable: Public Opinion and Treaty Exit – Bree Laura Bang-Jensen, University of Georgia
“Organizing Coercion”
4:00 to 5:30pm
Non-presenting co-author – (Paper) Facing Down the Masses: The Double-Edged Sword of Military Personalization – Salam Alsaadi, University of Georgia
Saturday, Sept.5
“AI Governance and Public Administration”
8:00-9:30am
Discussant: Christina Walker, University of Georgia
“Political Communication and Public Opinion in China”
9:45-11:15am
Non-presenting co-author – (Paper) How Digital Regulation in Democracies Can Unintentionally Benefit Autocracies – Rongbin Han, University of Georgia
“Violence, Polarization, and Political Behavior in Democratic Societies”
10:00-11:30am
Presenter – (Paper) Democracy Dismissed: When Citizens Choose Political Violence – Megan Turnbull, University of Georgia
“Governance in an AI-Driven World”
10:00 to 11:30am
Presenter– (Paper) The Politics of Impossibility: How Policy Shapes Algorithmic Fairness – Inkyu Kang, University of Georgia
“How Good Are LLMs for Annotating Data?”
10:00 to 11:30am
Chair – Joseph T. Ornstein, University of Georgia
“Counterinsurgency: Strategy, Intelligence, and Civilian Costs”
10:00 to 11:30am
Presenter – (Paper) Do Civilian Killings Deter Insurgency? Evidence from the Sino-Japanese War – Ning He, University of Georgia
“Judicial Legitimacy and Public Trust”
10:00 to 11:30am
Chair – Jessica Schoenherr, University of Georgia
Presenter – (Paper) Judges Are People Too: Judicial Presentation and U.S. Supreme Court Legitimacy – Jessica Schoenherr, University of Georgia
“Popular and Unpopular Autocrats: Opposition and Mobilization in the Middle East”
10:00 to 11:30am
Discussant – Salam Alsaadi, University of Georgia
“In-Group Heterogeneity”
12:00 to 1:30pm
Discussant – Laura Uribe, University of Georgia
“Naming and Shaming in Global Human Rights Politics”
12:00 to 1:30pm
Discussant – Bree Laura Bang-Jensen, University of Georgia
“Partisanship, Policy Views, and Belief Systems”
12:00 to 1:30pm
Discussant – Stephen P. Nicholson, University of Georgia
“Curriculum, Assessment, and Democratic Values”
10:00 to 11:30am
Presenters – (Paper) Beyond the Reading List: Descriptive Representation, Belonging, and Efficacy – Gulcan Saglam, University of Georgia; Maryann E. Gallagher, University of Georgia; Camila Livio, University of Georgia
“Elites and Public Opinion in Foreign Policy”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) Reputational Sources of the Accommodation Dilemma – Ryan M. Powers, University of Georgia
“Law and Courts Lifetime Achievement Award”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Presenter – Jessica Schoenherr, University of Georgia
“Text to Theory: Measurement, Scaling, and Validity in LLM-Based Text Analysis”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) Measuring Latent Quantities from Text Embeddings – Joseph T. Ornstein, University of Georgia
“Voting and Elections in the U.S. Context”
2:00 to 3:30pm
Presenter – (Paper) Beyond Party and Policy: How Candidate Responsiveness Shapes Voter Behavior – Emma Bibina, University of Georgia
“Affective Polarization and Outgroup Hostility”
4:00 to 5:30pm
Presenters – (Paper) Affective Polarization and Political Trust – Tabitha Lamberth, University of Georgia; Stephen P. Nicholson, University of Georgia
“Public Opinion and Court Reactions”
4:00 to 5:30pm
Non-presenting co-author– (Paper) Judicial Confirmation Rates and Popular Acceptance of Judicial Decisions – Jonathan King, University of Georgia
Discussant – Jonathan King, University of Georgia
Sunday, Sept. 6
“Elections in Africa”
8:00 to 9:30am
Discussant – Megan Turnbull, University of Georgia
“Executive-Legislative Relations”
10:00 to 11:30am
Chair – Scott H. Ainsworth, University of Georgia
“Strategic Bureaucracy in Authoritarian Regimes”
10:00 to 11:30am
Presenter – (Paper) How Elite Competition Mitigates Agency Problems Under Personalist Rule – Yuge Wang, University of Georgia
“Strategic Compliance and the Architecture of Human Rights Institutions”
10:00 to 11:30am
Non-presenting co-author – (Paper) Tactical Appointments: The Political Role of Human Rights Cabinet Ministers – K. Chad Clay, University of Georgia
