15.01.2026SPSA - Annual Congress

Politics can be emotional. People are elated when their party wins an election and upset when their party loses. When elections are not possible, anger can drive people to the streets to protest an authoritarian regime, joy may ring out if a ruthless dictator is toppled, and resignation may set in if new leaders do not meet expectations. Regardless of topic — foreign policy, international trade, the welfare state, immigration or climate policy — political discussions often become heated. It does not matter whether the debate occurs around the family dinner table or on the floor of parliament. To make good policy, we might hope that policymakers are rational and level-headed, but at the same time emotional debate can be engaging and exciting. Emotions are omnipresent in politics and the role of emotions can be studied from normative and positive perspectives, using a wide variety of methodologies, across any number of contexts, across countries, by examining both political elites as well as citizens, and in every subfield of political science. Emotions politics will provide a guiding theme for the annual congress of the 2026 Swiss Political Science Association.

The keynote speaker will be Prof. Catherine De Vries from Bocconi University.

The deadline for submitting papers has expired.

Information will follow

Information will follow

Room contingents with special conditions are available in the following hotels. When you click on the desired room option, an e-mail will appear with the corresponding keyword for the hotel.

Plattenhof Hotel

Single room for CHF 198.50 per room per night

Double room for CHF 223.50 per room per night

Hotel St. Josef

Grandlit room for CHF 193.50 per room per night

Business room for CHF 203.50 per room per night

Hotel Züri by Fassbind

Single and Double room (for single use) for CHF 153.50 per room per night

We can recommend other hotels, which you can enquire about directly (without room contingents):

Leonardo Boutique Hotel Rigihof

Sorell Hotel Rütli

Hotel Swiss Chocolate by Fassbind

If you have any questions, please contact:

• regarding the programme: spsa26@ipz.uzh.ch
• general enquiries: office@svpw-assp.ch

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