International Conference on Democracy and Global Governance Concludes Successfully in Santiago de Compostela

The International Conference on Democracy and Global Governance successfully concluded, bringing together leading international scholars and institutional representatives to reflect on the most pressing challenges facing contemporary democracies.

Organized by IDEAGOV and Foro Economico de Galicia, the Conference provided a high-level forum for the analysis of political polarisation, institutional resilience, and the global reconfiguration of governance.

The opening session featured institutional remarks from Antonio López Díaz (Rector, USC), Román Rodríguez González (Xunta de Galicia), Víctor Nogueira (Foro Económico de Galicia), and Santiago Lago Peñas (IDEAGOV), who emphasized the importance of rigorous academic dialogue and institutional cooperation in addressing democratic backsliding and global instability.

The first panel, Democracy and its Discontents: Understanding Polarisation and Political Conflict, included Jonathan Rodden (Stanford University) and Pablo Beramendi (Duke University), with discussant María Luz Loureiro García (USC). The discussion focused on the roots of partisan animosity, the impact of political conflict on democratic institutions, and the challenges of maintaining governance and public trust.

The second panel, The Global Turn: Unilateralism and Global Humanitarian Crises, featured Erik Wibbels and Guy Grossman (University of Pennsylvania), with discussant Miriam Hortas-Rico (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). Panelists explored the consequences of declining multilateral engagement, humanitarian aid cuts, and the pressures faced by states hosting refugees, providing insights into how international governance is adapting to a more fragmented global order.

Across panels, discussions combined comparative political analysis with empirical research, offering nuanced perspectives on how democratic institutions respond to internal fragmentation and external geopolitical pressures.

Participants highlighted that while democratic systems face significant stress—from ideological sorting to declining multilateral cooperation—they also retain adaptive capacities rooted in institutional design, accountability mechanisms, and international collaboration.

The Conference reaffirmed IDEAGOV as a growing hub for global academic exchange on democracy and governance, strengthening international networks and fostering evidence-based debate on the future of political institutions in the 21st century.