Together with Dimiter Toshkov (Leiden University), I organised and chaired a panel on Biology and Political Science at this year's ECPR conference in Reykjavik. Some of the presented papers are available for download here.
Panel abstract
Recent years have seen a growing cross-fertilization between the natural and social sciences. The increasing convergence of conceptual, theoretical, and methodological toolkits (e.g. network analysis, game theory, and statistical models) fosters the generation of such interdisciplinary insights. This panel is devoted to work that crosses the disciplinary boundaries between biology and political science; either by applying biological theories and methods to political science problems or by applying political theories and methods to topics in biology. Examples of such work include, but are not limited to, the following topics: Population ecology approaches to the study of political institutions and organizations; evolutionary dynamics of the diffusion of policies and ideas; genetic effects on political attitudes; evolutionary causes of international and domestic conflict; collective decision-making in animal groups; development and maintenance of social institutions in animal groups; evolution of cooperation and conflict in general.
Papers and authors