The Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Policy and Society (UJPPS) is an interdisciplinary academic journal that publishes peer-reviewed work of undergraduate students in social sciences and humanities. The journal provides a platform for aspiring academics to gain experience in publishing, research, and critical thinking while contributing to current debates and discussions in their disciplines. The UJPPS is currently soliciting submissions in the form of original research articles and literature reviews for its upcoming issue. The theme of the 2026 issue is The State of Democracy in an Age of Technological Innovation.
For much of the modern era, democracy has been a mode of political organization, a means of securing political participation, individual rights, human dignity, stability, and collective prosperity for all. Yet, democracy has a short history. As Kagan (1991, p. 2) describes it, democracy is a “rare, delicate and fragile” phenomenon. Over the past decade, democratic recession, the rise of populism, the re-emergence of wars, and the changing international world order have coincided with unprecedented technological innovation.
Technology has always shaped political life, but its importance has increased since the turn of the 21st century. Fundamentally altering the conditions under which political power is exercised, new algorithmic systems have reshaped how individuals access information, organize collectively, and meaningfully participate in political life. Be it artificial intelligence, social media, or utility systems, technology has become a tool through which politics is conducted, produced, distributed, and contested.
The relationship between technology and democracy is resultingly complex and contradictory. Although technological innovation expands political participation and collective action, it simultaneously creates new mechanisms for political manipulation, surveillance, polarization, and control. We welcome submissions that explore the connection between the state of democracy and technological innovations. Prospective articles can be qualitative or quantitative, from any theoretical or methodological perspective, addressing phenomena such as democratic backsliding, political and social fragmentation, declining trust in institutions, surveillance, disinformation, populism, or mass politics, to name a few. Possible questions that authors might address include:
- Can democracy remain a viable mode of political organization in an environment where technological systems increasingly mediate political participation, public discourse, and access to information?
- Is technological innovation democratic or anti-democratic?
- Can technological innovation be controlled or does it control us?
- How might democratic backsliding in the digital age differ from historical forms of democratic erosion?
- What are the legal, socio-economic, and environmental consequences of technological innovation?
- What are the safety concerns that can arise through the integration of artificial intelligence into commercial, social, and political services?
- How has social media changed political life?
- Is digital activism different from traditional forms of activism?
- How does technology give various actors more or less political agency?
Interested authors should submit their manuscript via the journal’s homepage, where they can also find the submission guidelines: https://www.ujpps.com/index.php/ujpps. The submission deadline is November 1st, 2026.
Submissions can be written in French or English and must be between 3,000 and 10,000 words in length. All submissions must conform to the journal’s submission guidelines. Submissions will undergo a double-blind peer-review process, and those selected by the UJPPS editorial team will be revised, finalized, and published in the 2026 issue of the journal. Questions pertaining to this call for papers should be directed to the UJPPS editorial teams.
Questions pertaining to this call for papers should be directed to the UJPPS editorial team at: cspel022@uottawa.ca.
UJPPS Editorial Committee 2026.