9th Biennial Conference of the Standing Group on Regulatory Governance
University of Antwerp, Belgium 12-14 July 2023
We would like to invite proposals for panels or individual papers for the 2023 Biennial Conference of the ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance, hosted by the University of Antwerp (GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence) from 12 to 14 July 2023. The Biennial Conference is the leading interdisciplinary conference on regulation and regulatory governance in Europe, attracting researchers from all over the globe working in a wide range of disciplines. It provides an opportunity to present research in progress and to get feedback and meet both old and new friends within the field and to learn more about the cutting edge of regulatory governance research.
Conference highlights include the Standing Group Award for Regulatory Studies Development for lifetime career achievement, awarded to a senior scholar who made an outstanding contribution to the field, the Giandomenico Majone Prize for the best conference paper by a junior member of the profession, as well as keynote lectures, round tables, social activities and more. The 2023 Biennial Conference will also coincide with the final conference of the EU H2020 TiGRE project (Trust in Governance and Regulation in Europe) and include activities offered by TiGRE such as a keynote, a round table presenting the main project results, and a series of panels on the topic of trust in regulatory governance.
Theme and Topics
We are interested in receiving panel/paper proposals relating to any aspect of the field of regulation and regulatory studies. Our main interest is to promote high-quality, rigorous research regardless of methodological approach. We welcome proposals from across a range of disciplines political science, law, public administration and policy analysis, economics, international relations, organisational studies, sociology and anthropology, as well as interdisciplinary proposals. Papers can be theoretical-conceptual or empirical, descriptive or explanatory, but they should have a clear conceptual and theoretical basis and meet appropriate methodological standards. We are encouraging papers using innovative (combinations of) state-of-the-art research methods (e.g. machine learning and automated coding). We encourage comparative papers and papers going beyond Western countries and including the Global South.
Besides proposals on regulation in general and/or dealing with specific sectors, panels and papers can deal with the functioning of regulatory regimes (state regulation, self-regulation and co-regulation), regulatory processes (rule-making and standard-setting, policy making, supervision, enforcement and compliance), the capacities, roles and behaviours of organisational and individual actors (such as regulatory agencies and regulatory officials, politicians and policy makers, front-line enforcers, regulatory intermediaries and private regulators, courts, interest groups, regulatees and beneficiaries), multi-level dynamics (international, national and subnational public and non-governmental actors as regulators), regulatory instruments and styles, hard and soft norms, regulatory innovation and reforms, and criteria such as independence, coordination, reputation, transparency, accountability, effectiveness, legitimacy, democratic values and rule of law, equality and societal justice.
As the conference theme indicates, we also welcome papers with respect to crisis governance and regulation, focusing on how regulation in all its forms as well as regulatory actors are affected by – and are changed in order to tackle – different crises (related to health pandemics, migration and diversity, energy, international security, political polarisation, climate change and biodiversity loss and others). Moreover, papers may focus on the relevance of regulation to seek for robust solutions of wicked issues and grand societal challenges. In addition, papers focusing on the regulation of new, emerging or disruptive technologies such as regulation of AI, autonomous systems and robotics, platform industries, block chain and cloud technology, gene editing and others are invited, as well as papers which discuss ways to improve both the capacity of regulation to induce innovation, while simultaneously mitigate risks and avoid adverse societal effects (such as regulatory sandboxes or principle-based regulation, and communicative strategies on risk regulation).
Finally, as the final conference of the TiGRE project is organised along with the Biennial Conference, we welcome in particular papers dealing with regulation and trust, including how regulation and trust/distrust relate, how actors assess the trustworthiness of regulatory regimes, agencies, actors and markets, as well as how trust dynamics within and between actors affect the functioning and legitimacy of regulatory regimes. Papers can also connect all abovementioned topics with societal and political trust.
Call for Papers and Panels Deadline
The deadline for paper and panel proposals is Wednesday, March 22, 2023.
All proposals will undergo peer review. Notifications of acceptance of panels and papers will be sent out early April 2023. Approved papers not submitted as part of a panel will be allocated to an appropriate panel.
Full papers of accepted proposals should be made available by 26 June 2023.
Submission of Panel/Paper Proposals
The deadline for paper and panel submissions is Wednesday, 22 March 2023. The submission portal can be accessed here (for panel submissions) and here (for paper submissions).
Panels can be submitted as ‘closed’ panels consisting of 3-4 invited papers (with paper titles and authors), as fully ‘open’ panels, or as combination of invited papers and free slots. Panels will last 90 minutes, or can run over several consecutive 90 minute slots. Panel proposals should include a panel title (max. 30 words) and abstract that introduces the panel theme and scope (max. 500 words). You should also provide the details of the panel chair, co-chairs (if you have them), and the discussant.
Paper proposals should include a paper title (max. 30 words), an abstract (max. 250 words), the authors and their e-mail addresses, and 3-5 keywords.
Fees and Grants
Fees for regular participants are set at 320 EUR. Fees for students (including PhD students) are set at 180 EUR. The welcome reception, lunches, coffee breaks, and the gala dinner are included in the conference fee.
We expect to have a small number of grants/fee waivers available for applicants. Details on how to apply will be available on the event website as of February 1st, 2023.
Further information
Further information regarding the conference will become available on the conference website. The conference website and submission system will be up and running as of February 1st, 2023. More details will follow soon in further communication.
In case of questions, please do not hesitate to contact the conference organisers at the following e-mail address: ecpr-reggov2023@uantwerpen.be.
We look forward to welcoming you in Antwerp in July 2023!
