States & Societies Network

The States and Societies Network is made up of sociologists, political scientists, historians, and other scholars who are interested in the history of states, the development of the state as a social institution, and the relationships among forms of rule and other institutions in society. The network is methodologically pluralistic, including narrativists, comparativists, area specialists and both quantitative and qualitative approaches. We welcome proposals for papers and panels on all topics that might fall under the broad rubric of "states and societies." We hope some proposals will address the 2006 conference theme, "Audiences and Publics." For example, network panels might focus on practices of political communication, relationships between social scientists and policy makers, relationships between states and news media, or the development of public spheres.