The George Washington International Law Review (GWILR) is pleased to announce our spring symposium titled, “Global Votes, Global Threats: Democracy in the 2024 Super-Cycle Election.” The symposium will take place on Friday, March 21, 2025, in the Jack Morton Auditorium at The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. Please submit articles by February 1, 2025 to be considered for publication, see more details on submissions below.
We invite papers to analyze, propose, and critically examine election laws and policies for presidential (executive), parliamentary/congressional (legislative), or general (both executive and legislative) elections that took place from January 1 to December 31, 2024. With 73 elections in the 2024 Super Cycle, this symposium will seek to discuss key questions in a legal reflection on the state of democracy globally, including: what elections were free and fair? What domestic laws or international law can curb democratic backsliding? What accountability tools exist domestically or multilaterally to address election interference? What election laws promoted universal and equal suffrage? We encourage contributions from lawyers, legal scholars, policymakers, candidates or politically-elected officials, and advocates from civil society from around the world and across the political spectrum.
We are interested in, although not limited to, the following topics:
- Democratic Backsliding: abuses or irregularities; political candidates arrested, barred from running for office, or campaign offices raided; political violence; late changes to election laws close to an election; refusal to accept the results of an election; restrictions on fundamental freedoms in the political process.
- Election Interference: foreign election interference; voter manipulation via misinformation/disinformation; alleged or actual voter fraud.
- Inclusive Representation: gerrymandering; voter suppression; voter ID laws; voter access and participation, particularly from marginalized communities; legal restrictions on candidates, particularly from marginalized communities.
2024 Elections of Interest may include but not limited to: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Ethiopia, European Union, Finland, Georgia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Maldives, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, Romania, Rwanda, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Tunisia, United Kingdom, and Venezuela. For a full list of 2024 Global Elections, see International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance [International IDEA].
EDITORIAL POLICY. GWILR welcomes the submission of articles on public or private international law, comparative law, or related issues. To be considered for publication in this issue, the main focus of the submission must focus on international elections. GWILR does not publish articles that mention the United States, U.S. law, or U.S. policies in more than 50 percent of the Article. Such submissions may discuss 2024 election-related challenges having an impact on a foreign nation’s legal, economic, or foreign policy. Submissions should be timely and provide an original, analytical, and in-depth treatment of the issue, rather than a summary of
previous research efforts. The GWILR’s primary focus is public and private international law and comparative law; however, international affairs articles and essays will also be considered for publication. The GWILR accepts submissions from authors with a J.D. or an equivalent international degree. The GWILR does not accept submissions from J.D. candidates.
STYLE. Articles should be concisely written, well-organized, and presented in an articulate and scholarly fashion. More descriptive presentation should be limited to background matter, and use of direct quotations should be kept to a minimum. The maximum word count for submissions to our Symposium Issue is 10,500 words, including footnotes. This word count maximum is designed to encourage authors to narrow their pieces for the piece’s inclusion in the broader theme of international elections throughout the issue. The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit material above the line to conform with our GWILR Style Guide.
DOCUMENTATION. All major assertions must be well-substantiated by reference to at least one authoritative source. Sources consulted should be recent and sufficient to indicate a thorough coverage of the topic. Overdependence on a few sources should be avoided. Where appropriate, reference may be made to a relevant section in the text. Citations to authority should be contained in the footnotes. Footnotes may also include elaboration of points raised in the text, or references to research sources pertaining to points peripheral to those discussed in the text. Footnotes should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed. 2020) and should be up-to-date at the time of submission. The Chicago Manual of Style (current edition) should be consulted for matters of style not covered in The Bluebook. The Editorial Board reserves the right to transfer some textual materials to the footnotes or vice versa. The Editorial Board may also request additional citations to conform with our policies.
FORMAT. Submissions should be typed, double-spaced, in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format. The text should be organized into appropriate headings and subheadings. Footnotes should be numbered consecutively and cross-referenced.
SUBMISSION MATERIALS. Submissions must be sent to eae.gwilr@law.gwu.edu to be considered. You must Include in the subject line of the email, “Symposium Issue Submission Volume 57.” To be considered for publication, authors must submit: (1) a complete copy of the proposed article; (2) an abstract; and (3) the author’s curriculum vitae or resumé. Submissions must be submitted by February 1, 2025 to be considered.