Dear Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to two panels that I am organising at the 2023 Italian Political Science Association (SISP) Conference, which will be held in Genoa on 14-16 September 2023. * Panel 1.5 – Political Regimes and Crisis Responses in the COVID-19 Era (with Angelo Vito Panaro) * Panel 10.5 – Measurement and Indicators in Political Science You can find here<https://www.sisp.it/en/conference2023/call-for-papers-conference-2023> more details on how to submit your abstract. The deadline for abstract submissions is 31 May 2023. Please find below more detailed information on the two panels. Feel free to contact me (andrea.vaccaro@bsg.ox.ac.uk<mailto:andrea.vaccaro@bsg.ox.ac.uk>) or (angelo.panaro@unimi.it<mailto:angelo.panaro@unimi.it>) for any questions. If you are working on these themes, we warmly invite you to submit your abstract and join us in Genoa! With best wishes, Andrea Vaccaro ************************************** Panel 1.5 – Political Regimes and Crisis Responses in the COVID-19 Era (with Angelo Vito Panaro, University of Milan) Contemporary governments face increasingly complex crises that both demand and allow for unprecedented policy interventions. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of these crises. Countries have been forced to adopt various political decisions and policy interventions in order to mitigate the negative consequences of the pandemic. Emerging evidence indicates that autocracies were quicker than democracies to tackle the spread of virus in the first wave of the pandemic, but that democracies implemented more inclusive and effective long-term policy interventions. Recent contributions also suggest that the effect of the pandemic has been different in democracies and autocracies. Generally, the literature on the link between political regimes and COVID-19 responses is still at an early stage and findings are inconclusive. The aim of this panel is to address the research gaps on the topic and encourage a lively debate on key questions such as but not limited to: Have democracies and dictatorships responded differently to the COVID-19 pandemic? If yes, how and why? Are there any regime features that matter more than others to account for distinct policy responses? If so, which one(s)? What are the consequences of diverse pandemic responses? Did they affect regime stability? Did they foster political and institutional changes in different political regimes? In answering these questions, the panel seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing democracies and dictatorships in times of crisis —also beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage submissions from all political science subfields and welcome empirical papers that use qualitative and/or quantitative methods as well as case studies and/or comparative approaches to answer relevant questions on the theme of the panel. Panel 10.5 – Measurement and Indicators in Political Science In recent decades, the discipline of political science has undergone a steep quantitative turn. This transformation has been facilitated by methodological advances in statistical analysis and availability of data. While commonly used quantitative approaches are growing in complexity, the importance of high-quality data and indicators remain often overlooked. Yet, using and producing high-quality data is fundamental for truly pushing political science forward in this quantitative era. Today, the well-known saying ‘garbage in, garbage out’ holds more weight than ever before. Currently, there is a lack of extensive research on political science measurement. To address this research gap, this panel seeks to attract papers that focus on the measurement of political science phenomena from various perspectives. We encourage in particular the submission of papers that propose and develop new indicators to be used in any political science subfield; evaluate the quality of existing indicators and datasets; reflect on data evaluation methods and measurement validity; and more broadly, contribute to the advancement of measurement in political science. Ultimately, the objective of this panel is to foster more rigorous quantitative political science research by bringing together experts working on political science measurement and by providing an opportunity to discuss currently relevant issues on the topic. ************************************** ------ Andrea Vaccaro, PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow Blavatnik School of Government University of Oxford www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/people/andrea-vaccaro<https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/people/andrea-vaccaro> www.vaccaroandrea.com<http://www.vaccaroandrea.com/> www.twitter.com/anvaccaro<http://www.twitter.com/anvaccaro>