Call for Papers

The Sixth Annual Political Networks Conference will be held June 26-29, 2013 at the Bloomington campus of Indiana University.

The study of political networks is a key component of the interdisciplinary field of network science.  Network science provides various tools and concepts with the potential to transform the study of governance and politics by allowing political scientists to develop more realistic theories and methods that capture important social aspects of political life.   At the same time, political science can enhance the study of networks by understanding the political dimensions of emerging socio-technical networks as well as the policy implications of networks in other domains such as medicine and health care. This conference aims to strengthen this synergy and further demonstrate the importance of networks as core to political life and a central topic of study in political science.

We are soliciting papers that apply network ideas, from substantive insight to methodological innovation, in the fields of American Politics, International Relations, Comparative Politics, Political Theory, Public Administration, and Political Methodology.  We are particularly interested in proposals that demonstrate the interdisciplinary synergy of network science, including highlighting major findings of importance to political science, how political science is influencing the overall direction of network science, and how theories and methods from other disciplines might be usefully adopted for the study of political phenomena.   Submissions are encouraged from a wide range of disciplines including, but not limited to, political science, sociology, economics, anthropology, psychology, business, information systems, and complex systems.

Due to the success of the training sessions held in previous conferences, we will continue to provide two days of workshops covering introductory and advanced topics starting on June 26. 

The full conference will kick off on June 27 with an opening reception and keynote address, with a full schedule of panel presentations on June 28 and 29, including plenary addresses by Robert Huckfeldt (Political Networks: State of the Science), Brint Milward (Dark Networks: Insurgency as an Ecology of Games), and Chris McCarty (Public Health and Networks).

Details, including links to registration, links to accommodations (available at attractive rates until late May), and application for aid will be available at http://polnet2013.indiana.edu.

Please submit your ideas for papers and panels, and plan to attend the 6th Annual Political Networks Conference.

Program Committee

Mark Lubell (UC Davis)
Sandra González-Bailón (Oxford University)

Important Dates

  • Feb 1, 2013: Deadline for paper and poster proposals.
  • March 15, 2013: Decisions announced
  • April 15, 2013: Acceptance deadline for presenters
  • May 25, 2013: Early reservation deadline to secure special hotel rates (updated on 12/8/12)
  • May 26, 2013: Early conference registration deadline
  • June 20, 2013: Online conference registration deadline.