Call for Papers
Shifting Political Order(s) in the Polycrisis:
Complexity and Challenges in Global, Regional, and Domestic Governance
Workshop
December 4 & 5, 2025 at the Heidelberg Academy of Humanities and Sciences
Gordon Friedrichs (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law &
Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities)
Stella Kim (Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities)
Steven Schwarz (Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities)
Statement of Aims
The 21st century is defined by a confluence of crises that intersect, overlap, and interact in ways that challenge existing political orders at the international, regional, and domestic levels. This phenomenon, commonly referred to as polycrisis, describes a system of multiple, interconnected crises occurring simultaneously across various domains. Rather than isolated events, a polycrisis emerges from complex global and transnational interdependencies that amplify their impact, perpetuating the risk for systemic failures. These crises place immense strain on political institutions, governance structures, societies, economies, and political leaders, challenging their capacity for effective policy responses.
We contend that a polycrisis is characterized by two key dimensions of complexity. On the one hand, horizontal complexity, where multiple crises coexist and interact across different policy areas without necessarily having a direct causal link but with mutually reinforcing consequences. On the other hand, vertical complexity, which refers to the multilayered nature of individual crises, involving a diverse range of actors - state and non-state - across multiple levels of governance, leading to overlapping and often competing policy responses. Combined, these dimensions of complexity make the effective management of a polycrisis challenging. Its origin is often diffuse, its trajectory nonlinear, and its impact highly unpredictable.
This workshop aims to examine the multifaceted impacts of the polycrisis on political orders across different levels of governance. Specifically, we seek to explore how the polycrisis reshapes existing international, regional, and domestic governance structures?
Political order - whether at the international, regional, or domestic level - refers to the institutional, normative, and decision-making structures that underpin stability and governance. A polycrisis is shaped by multidirectional feedback loops, where crises not only escalate through positive feedback - reinforcing and amplifying systemic disruptions - but may also trigger negative feedback, stabilizing responses that mitigate cascading failures. However, these feedback mechanisms operate within interconnected subsystems, where governance structures at the domestic, regional, and international levels interact in unpredictable ways. Traditional state-centric approaches to crisis management increasingly struggle to navigate these dynamics, as intervention in one subsystem may produce unintended ripple effects across others.
We invite paper proposals that contribute to the empirical and theoretical understanding of the polycrisis across different governance levels, cases, and policy areas. We particularly welcome contributions that investigate how the polycrisis shapes, disrupts, or reinforces international, regional, and domestic political orders, exploring shifts, transformations, resilience mechanisms, and stability in response to overlapping and interconnected crises. Contributions may focus on, but are not limited to, the following themes:
1. Polycrisis and International Order
At the international level, the polycrisis challenges the resilience of international institutions, disrupts global governance mechanisms, and raises questions about the ability of international organizations and multilateral forums to manage systemic risks. Papers in this category may examine:
• How international actors navigate crisis interdependencies, including the potential for new forms of institutional coordination or fragmentation.
• The relationship between polycrisis and global conflict dynamics, including geopolitical rivalries, great power competition, and transnational security challenges.
• The evolving role of multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, or the International Monetary Fund in responding to interconnected crises.
• The impact of global economic shocks, climate crises, and health emergencies on the restructuring of international governance.
2. Polycrisis and Regional Order
At the regional level, the polycrisis introduces governance challenges that test the ability of regional organizations to provide effective crisis responses while managing interdependencies and sovereignty concerns. We welcome contributions that examine:
• How regional organizations such as the European Union, ASEAN, the African Union, or Mercosur (as well as others) adapt to the pressures of simultaneous crises.
• The impact of regime complexity on regional crisis responses and governance effectiveness.
• Comparative analyses of regional resilience strategies in managing transnational crises, including migration waves, pandemics, and financial instability.
3. Polycrisis and Domestic Order
At the domestic level, the polycrisis affects state institutions, public trust, and decision-making processes, shaping national resilience and influencing foreign policy behavior. We encourage submissions that explore: • Comparative analyses of national polycrisis management strategies and institutional adaptability.
• The influence of polycrisis on foreign policy decision-making, including how domestic crises shape a country's international engagement and crisis diplomacy.
• The interplay between domestic contestation (e.g., party politics, populism, and political polarization) and national responses to transnational crises.
• How polycrisis affect the legitimacy of political institutions, including the resilience of democratic and autocratic governance models.
4. Cross-Cutting Approaches
We also encourage interdisciplinary and cross-cutting contributions that examine overarching theoretical and methodological questions, including:
• Theoretical and methodological tools for analyzing the intersection of complexity, crisis management, and political order.
• How different types of actors - nation-states, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), non governmental organizations (NGOs), multinational corporations (MNCs), and transnational advocacy networks - respond to polycrisis, and what challenges arise from their interactions.
• How systemic crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, global climate change, the Russia Ukraine war, or the crisis of Chimerica influence and condition other crises, reshaping global, regional, and domestic political orders.
• How crises spread across sectors (economic, environmental, security, technological) and what governance mechanisms exist - or fail - to contain their spillover effects.
Submission Guidelines
We invite scholars from various disciplines, including but not limited to international relations, international political economy, global governance, peace and conflict studies, and foreign policy analysis, to submit paper abstracts of no more than 300 words April 11, 2025. Please send your abstract to Gordon Friedrichs (friedrichs@mpil.de). Selection notifications will be sent out in by late April. We will discuss early paper drafts at an authors’ workshop in Heidelberg on December 4 & 5, 2025.
To ensure a productive exchange, we ask for early draft working papers of 7000-8000 words by November 24, 2025, to be discussed at the workshop and later published in a special issue or an edited volume. We are able to cover a limited amount of travel and accommodation expenses. Please get in touch with us as soon as possible in case you need financial support in order to attend the workshop. We would be delighted to receive your contribution and welcome you to Heidelberg in December!