Conference: Understanding Democracy, Elections, and Political Accountability

University Of Massachusetts Boston, Dorchester MA

Investigators

Abstract

This “Understanding Democracy, Elections, and Political Accountability” conference assesses how an important high court decision affects access to the ballot, election administration, and the exercise of the right to vote in the ten years after the decision. During the conference, twelve to 15 conference participants present and discuss papers and participate in translational contributions through community-based outreach. The conference will provide a 10-year retrospective social science examination of the effects of legal changes to voting procedures on voting rights protections and voter participation that will be useful for political scientists, sociologists, lawyers, and community groups. Topics of the conference include election law, voting rights, high court decisions related to voting rights, redistricting, electoral participation, and democratic accountability. The conference is organized by scholars from a MSI, a HBCU, and a PWI. Participants include the organizing committee, at least nine junior and senior scholars from across political science and legal academia, undergraduate and graduate students, and local community-of-interest experts. The conference also includes public-facing engagement with the Jackson, Mississippi community. This conference assesses how an important high court decision affects access to the ballot, election administration, and the exercise of the right to vote in the ten years after the decision. During the conference, twelve to 15 conference participants present and discuss papers and participate in translational contributions through community-based outreach. The conference will provide a 10-year retrospective social science examination of the effects of legal changes to voting procedures on voting rights protections and voter participation that will be useful for political scientists, sociologists, lawyers, and community groups. Topics of the conference include election law, voting rights, high court decisions related to voting rights, redistricting, electoral participation, and democratic accountability. The conference is organized by scholars from a MSI, a HBCU, and a PWI. Participants include the organizing committee, at least nine junior and senior scholars from across political science and legal academia, undergraduate and graduate students, and local community-of-interest experts. The conference also includes public-facing engagement with the Jackson, Mississippi community. Products of the conference include a set of conference papers presented at the 2024 Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.