This is the central page of the 4th Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies that took place on Friday, 13 June 2025, in Athens.
Introduction
The 4th Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies entitled “Reinventing Democracy for the 21st Century” was successfully completed on Friday, 13 June 2025, at the History Museum of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The conference was attended by over 120 researchers and parliamentary staff from 30 countries. The scientific conference was organized by the Hellenic OCR Team and Széchenyi István University, featuring 70 scientific presentations in 17 sessions that covered a wide range of topics related to the evolution of democracy and parliamentarism in the digital age.
Context
In an era marked by rapid technological advancements and global political shifts, democracy faces multifaceted challenges and opportunities. The 4th Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies addressed the evolving landscape of democracy in the 21st century, emphasizing how emerging technologies, geopolitical tensions and societal changes shape parliamentary practices. Key themes included the transformation of parliaments into digital bodies, the influence of artificial intelligence on policymaking, the role of social media and the metaverse in civic engagement and the proliferation of disinformation. The conference attempted to strengthen dialogue on sustaining democratic resilience, maintaining transparency and trust in an age of AI, while exploring and investigating the intersection of technology and parliamentary governance. Sessions covered amongst others strategies for combating disinformation and ensuring that technological progress enhances rather than undermines democratic principles.
Specifically, the conference focused on the following issues:
- The digital transition of parliaments and the challenges of electronic governance and transparency.
- Artificial Intelligence in the legislative process and safeguarding democratic values.
- Disinformation and the role of social media in shaping contemporary political reality.
- Geopolitical shifts and their impact on parliamentary diplomacy.
Our audience during the inaugural session
Organization and scientific supervision
The conference is organized by the Hellenic OCR Team and Széchenyi István University, in cooperation with the International Journal of Parliamentary Studies and Brill. Serving as Conference Chairs are Dr. Fotis Fitsilis of the Hellenic Parliament and Prof. Zsolt Szabó of Széchenyi István University and Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary. The scientific quality was overseen by a nine-member committee, which included the following members:
- Fotis Fitsilis, Hellenic Parliament, Greece
- Zsolt Szabó, Széchenyi István University, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church, Hungary
- Peter Smuk, Széchenyi István University, Hungary
- Evangelos Kalampokis, University of Macedonia, Greece
- Spyridon Vlachopoulos, University of Athens, Greece
- George Mikros, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
- Juan de Dios Cincunegui, Universidad Austral, Argentina
- Stéphane Gagnon, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada
- Iasonas Lambrianou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
Group photograph
Important links
Pevious conferences
- 1st Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies (Budapest): Call for Papers – Book of Abstracts
- 2nd Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies (Vienna): Organized jointly with the 1st Day of Parliamentary Research
- 3rd Global Conference on Parliamentary Studies (Prague): Call for Papers – Conference Program
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