This conference invites us to look hard at what puts democracy at risk and at what helps it stay strong.
Democracy is under increased pressure as populism, polarisation, foreign authoritarian interference, and declining institutional trust erode its normative and institutional foundations. The algorithmic amplification of disinformation and the strategic use of digital influencers are already eroding the necessary conditions for democratic deliberation and civic participation. Understanding these developments is vital to confronting the current crisis of legitimacy for elected governments and safeguarding democratic continuity.
This conference invites critical engagement with the vulnerabilities undermining democracy and with interventions that strengthen its resilience. We welcome interdisciplinary contributions from political science, psychology, sociology, media and communication studies, law, computer science, and related disciplines addressing these issues. By examining the social, affective, and technological dynamics of democracy amid the rise of social media, populism, artificial intelligence, and transnational digital authoritarianism, the conference aims to advance conceptual, empirical, and practical insights into democratic renewal.
Download The Future of Democracy Conference and Workshop Brochure
Keynote Speakers
Dr Nicole Tausch is Reader in Psychology in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews. Her research in social psychology focuses on intergroup relations, conflict, prejudice and discrimination, and the psychological processes that shape political participation and collective action. Dr Tausch’s work spans experimental and longitudinal methods to understand how group-based emotions, perceived injustice, and social context influence attitudes and behaviour in diverse social settings. She has received funding from the British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council for projects on political engagement and social change, and has published widely on the dynamics of intergroup contact, collective action, and social perception.
Dr Matteo Vergani is Associate Professor in Sociology at Deakin University and Director of the Tackling Hate Lab, where he leads research on hate, hate crime, and political violence. His interdisciplinary work examines the “ecosystem of hate”, from discrimination and micro-aggressions to hate speech and extremist violence, and the social and policy factors that drive and prevent these harms in multicultural societies. Dr Vergani has published widely on hate, radicalisation, and violent extremism, completed numerous impact evaluations of prevention and counter-extremism interventions, and secured significant research funding across Australia and Southeast Asia.
Pre-Conference Workshop | Wednesday, 24 June 2026 in Iași
Two optional, in-person workshops (3 hours each) will run on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, in Iași. Places are limited and separate (free) registration is required. Priority will be given to accepted presenters and doctoral researchers.
- Data Science Applications in the Social Sciences (3 hours): Hands-on workflows for scalable text and network analysis relevant to disinformation, polarisation, and influencer ecosystems. Includes data collection, cleaning, reproducible analysis in R/Python, and transparent reporting.
- Doing Research with Cultural Humility (3 hours): Interactive training on reflexivity, positionality, ethics, and community-engaged practice. Focus on designing studies that recognise power dynamics and minimise harm in cross-cultural and conflict-adjacent settings.
Workshop Speakers
Associate Professor RoseAnne Misajon is a behavioural scientist and researcher at The Cairnmillar Institute (www.cairnmillar.org.au) with expertise in subjective wellbeing, health-related quality of life, chronic illness and disability, and the wellbeing of diverse and marginalised populations. She takes an interdisciplinary approach, integrating psychology, health economics, public health and cultural studies to understand how discrimination and social determinants affect mental health and quality of life. Her research has contributed to the development of internationally used measures of life quality and informed evidence-based practice on inclusivity and diversity. She will lead a practical session on cultural humility, exploring its relevance for reflective practice, inclusive engagement and enhancing democratic participation in diverse societies.
Dr John Betts is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University, specialising in data science, computational modelling, and simulation. His research applies scalable text analysis, network analysis, and agent-based modelling to complex social phenomena, including online polarisation, disinformation dynamics, and influencer ecosystems. He has extensive experience developing reproducible workflows in R and Python for collecting, cleaning, analysing, and transparently reporting large-scale social data. In this workshop, Dr Betts will lead hands-on sessions demonstrating practical data science pipelines for social science research, with a focus on methodological rigour, interpretability, and responsible analysis of digital traces.
Registration
Write your Expression of Interest via This Link: https://forms.gle/23nMaKHXz9PVPoXf8
Note: Travel and accommodation support is not available.
Download The Future of Democracy Pre-Conference Workshop Brochure
Conference Organisers
Ihsan Yilmaz (Deakin University)
Ana-Maria Bliuc (The University of Dundee)
Daniela-Muntele (“A.I. Cuza” University of Iași)
John Betts (Monash University)
Matthew Belanger (Stirling University)
Funder
These programmes are supported by the Australian Government – Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project (DP230100257) 2023-2026.