7: Politics and History

Sheri Berman, Barnard College, sberman@barnard.edu
Desmond King, Oxford University, Nuffield College, desmond.king@nuffield.ox.ac.uk

In accordance with the purpose of the Politics and History section, we invite proposals that address the 2010 APSA conference theme of “Politics in Hard Times” in historical and comparative perspective. As the 2010 APSA call for papers and contemporary discussion makes clear, there is a renewed recognition that a full understanding of contemporary problems and potential solutions requires careful analysis of previous crises and their resolution. The Politics and History section is thus interested in papers and panels that aim to illuminate current challenges via rigorous inquiry into topics such as: the development of, responses to and outcomes of past economic crises; the impact of crises on a variety of political variables and actors, including party and electoral outcomes, and regime change; the differential impact of crises on groups within both advanced industrial and developing societies; and the ways in which crises affect the development of economic, political, and social thought.