The UK Political Studies Association (PSA) Specialist Group Autocracy and Regime Change (ARC) and Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) intend to examine central elements of the authoritarian eco-system. We will compile a series of editor-reviewed policy briefs, each authored by different contributors who will submit full briefs after abstract review.

Introduction

Authoritarian regimes pose an increasing challenge to a democratic future and, by some accounts, already comprise most of the world’s political systems. Many of them have found ways of remaining relatively stable over time, defying long-held assumptions of political science. Yet, their survival can rarely be attributed to a single factor, but instead non-democracies have carefully crafted authoritarian eco-systems that consist of traditional elements of authoritarian rule such as repression and censorship, nominally democratic institutions such as elections and parties, as well as recent technological innovations such as the use of AI and digital disinformation. Together, these elements form an intricate web of strategies designed to keep authoritarian rulers in place.

They also often mask the true nature of authoritarian rule. Rigged elections, for instance, may still be certified as largely free and fair by carefully designated election observers, while digital disinformation is often disseminated by bots rather than by official regime actors. While academic research has flourished in some of these areas in recent years, the modern authoritarian nature still poses challenges for policymakers in democracies. They need to engage with authoritarian regimes in a wide variety of issues and balance potentially competing security, economic, and diplomatic interests when doing so requiring a careful understanding of authoritarian eco-systems in the 21st Century.

To this end, ARC and WFD intend to compile a series of policy briefs that synthesises available academic research and knowledge of authoritarian rule in a public-facing manner. This series has the following three objectives:

• Review of key pillars of authoritarian rule from an academic comparative perspective
• Define the most important domestic and international challenges that authoritarian eco-systems pose to democracies
• Propose actionable policy directions from existing research for policymakers in the UK and other democracies

The series will include 6 to 8 editor-reviewed briefs, written by different authors. Authors will be invited to submit a full manuscript based upon a review of the initial submitted abstract.

Topics

Authors may consider submitting an abstract covering, for instance, any of the following key elements of the authoritarian eco-systems, their role in sustaining authoritarian rule, and implication for policymakers following from research in these areas

• Political institutions (e.g., legislatures, political parties, elections)
• Authoritarian Peer-Learning (e.g., inter-state conferences, economic agreements)
• Recovery from Authoritarian Rule (e.g., opposition strategies, citizens’ mobilizations)
• Digital space (e.g., usage of A.I., digital society, disinformation)
• International influence (e.g., electoral interference, international organizations)

We also welcome submissions relating to other key elements of authoritarian rule in line with the authors’ academic expertise.

Submission

• ARC and WFD are inviting interested authors to submit a paper abstract of max. 500 words.
• The abstract should specify and motivate the specific element of the authoritarian eco-systems to be analysed, give a brief indication of general findings in this area, and potential policy implications that follow from this.
• Submission of the abstract should be accompanied by the author’s CV and a brief summary (max. 200 words) of their (academic and non) experience on the proposed topic.
• The editorial board will review the paper abstracts and decide on which abstracts to accept.
• Authors of accepted proposals will be expected to submit a full manuscript of 3,000 to 4,000 words (excluding bibliography).
• All full manuscripts will undergo a review process by the editorial board.
• Authors may also discuss their briefs at a roundtable discussion at the 2026 PSA Conference in Oxford, 30 March – 1 April. · Abstracts, researcher’s profile, and CVs can be submitted to: arc.psa.sg@gmail.com .

Authors will be rewarded through their inclusion in a copyrighted publication, in a global social media campaign for the publication, and with a financial remuneration of 400 GBP per finalized paper.

Timeline

• Launch of Call for Papers: 01 July 2025
• Abstract deadline: 03 October 2025
• Decisions on abstracts: 10 October 2025
• Full manuscript deadline: 13 February 2026
• Editor-review process: 14-28 February 2026
• PSA 2026 conference: 30 March – 1 April 2026
• Revised full manuscript deadline: 03 April 2026
• Estimated Date of publication: May 2026

Organizational background

The UK Political Studies Association (PSA) Specialist Group Autocracy and Regime Change (ARC) is one of the largest PSA Specialist Groups. It brings together scholars studying the domestic politics and international relations of non-democratic states, as well as scholars who study regime change, including democratisation, democratic backsliding and autocratic consolidation. ARC’s members include academics at all career stages based in the UK and internationally.

Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) is the UK public body dedicated to supporting democracy around the world. Operating internationally, WFD works with parliaments, political parties, civil society as well as on elections, to make political systems fairer, more inclusive and accountable.