Logistics for RAFT Committee Discussion and Section Business Meeting

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Mehdi Shadmehr

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Jul 19, 2026, 4:52:02 PMJul 19
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Dear Friends,

I hope you're having a great weekend.

The Section's Business Meeting will be held virtually on Monday, Aug 3, from 11 AM to 12:30 PM ET. I will send the Zoom link closer to the date. 

The Zoom information for the RAFT Committee Discussion tomorrow, Monday, July 20, at 2 PM ET is:

Time: Jul 20, 2026 2:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 934 7390 2280
Passcode: 317515

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Passcode: 317515
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Steven Callander, Adam Meirowitz, and Monika Nalepa, from the Committee on the Status of Formal Theory Publications in Political Science, have kindly agreed to attend the discussion.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all and to your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.

Formal Theory at APSA 2026

Finally, please join us at APSA 2026 for the inaugural Formal Theory Frontiers panels on Thursday. If you are looking for important open questions that are particularly well suited to formal modeling, or if you want to get a sense of the frontier of a thriving literature, these panels are designed with exactly those goals in mind.

Formal Theory Frontiers I: Open Questions in Elections and Accountability (Thursday, 2:00–3:30 PM), featuring Stuti Khemani, Claudio Ferraz, and John Duggan. The panelists will summarize the frontiers of policy, empirical, and theoretical knowledge on elections and accountability and highlight open questions that are particularly well suited to formal modeling.

Formal Theory Frontiers II: Open Questions in Authoritarian Politics (Thursday, 4:00–5:30 PM), featuring Yuhua Wang, Anne Meng, and Milan Svolik. The panelists will summarize the frontiers of empirical and theoretical knowledge on authoritarian politics and highlight open questions that are particularly well suited to formal modeling.

In addition, we will have cross-sectional panels co-sponsored by the IPE, Comparative Politics, and Democracy and Autocracy divisions, as well as a panel on Models of AI and Technology in Politics.

I want to thank John Duggan, Claudio Ferraz, Stuti Khemani, Anne Meng, Milan Svolik, and Yuhua Wang for generously agreeing to participate in the inaugural Formal Theory Frontiers panels. I also thank the APSA 2026 IPE, Comparative Politics, and Democracy and Autocracy division co-chairs—Julia Morse, Amanda Kennard, Fiona Shen-Bayh, Salma Mousa, Alexander Lee, Megan Stewart, and David Szakonyi—for co-sponsoring the cross-sectional panels. Finally, I am especially grateful to Zhaotian Luo and Amna Salam,  APSA Division co-Chairs, for their extensive time and effort in advancing these new initiatives at APSA 2026. 

(Stay tuned for details on the FT reception at APSA and other wonderful section news!)

Best,

Mehdi Shadmehr
President, APSA Formal Theory Section


Mehdi Shadmehr
Associate Professor of Public Policy
Adjunct Associate Professor of Economics
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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