Call for Papers: Gonzaga in Florence 2026 Human Rights Conference
Gonzaga in Florence 2026 Human Rights Conference
Executive Aggrandizement and Decline of Rule of Law and Democracy: Human Rights Perspective
May 22, 2026
Florence, Italy
Gonzaga University School of Law invites proposals for paper presentations at its 2026 Human Rights Conference in Florence, Italy. The 2026 conference will be the eighth edition of this annual conference that the Law School co-hosts with Gonzaga in Florence and the Center for Civil and Human Rights at Gonzaga Law. Previous conferences have addressed topics such as Cultural Heritage as Human Right, Artificial Intelligence. Government, Corporation, and Human Rights, Black Lives Matter as a Global Human Rights Movement, Equal Justice as a Human Right, Freedom of Expression as a Human Right, and Women’s Rights as Human Rights. These programs have showcased distinguished academics and lawyers from a dozen countries and five continents. Keynote speakers have included Professor Paul Butler; Dr. Teresa Sullivan, President Emerita of the University of Virginia; the Honorable Raul Pangalangan, Judge of the International Criminal Court and former Dean of the University of Philippines College of Law; the Honorable Mary Murguia, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; Professor Frank Pasquale, Jeffrey D. Forchelli Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School; and award-winning cultural heritage lawyers and founding partners of Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC, Marion Werkheiser and Greg Werkheiser.
The 2026 conference is scheduled for May 22, 2026, and the theme is Executive Aggrandizement and Decline of Rule of Law and Democracy: Human Rights Perspective. The conference will begin with an evening keynote reception in central Florence on May 21, followed by a full-day program that will include multiple panels, a keynote luncheon, and a closing dinner. Keynote speakers will be announced as they are confirmed. Gonzaga Law in Florence will waive speaker conference fees, including for program events and meals. Depending on available resources, Gonzaga also may be able to provide lodging in Florence for the dates of the conference and limited travel reimbursement.
This conference will explore the many ways in which executive aggrandizement erodes rule of law, democracy, and human rights. Even a legitimately elected government with democratic process can undermine rule of law, democracy, and frequently violate human rights. When an elected officer exercises his/her power beyond the founding principles of separation of powers and checks and balances as prescribed in constitutions and laws, and unduly influences the judicial system and legislative process, it not only endangers the whole democratic process but also makes the executive head dominant over other branches of the government by seeking dominance over the judiciary, the parliament, and other units of governance such as states and provinces. Executive aggrandizement employs a method where elected leaders with antidemocratic intent amass a preponderance of power by undermining all major constraints on their power, whether in the form of horizontal or vertical lines of accountability. Common tactics include weakening the independent judiciary and legislature, politicizing and weaponizing prosecutorial power, undermining the fairness of the electoral process, censoring or harassing independent media, co-opting private businesses, and undercutting the independence of civil society.
Executive aggrandizement as a democratic backsliding systematically discredits the courts, resulting in the undermining of the rule of law and the discarding of protected bill of rights. Judicial submission and legislative inertia to executive aggrandizement make the case of human rights even worse. Many countries in the world are suffering from executive aggrandizement at different levels, causing the erosion of rule of law and democracy, alongside violations of human rights. Executive power grabs and resulting democratic backsliding, erosion of rule of law, and violations of human rights have become a new normal and have become a major concern for both scholars and the public. There are different kinds, methods, and outcomes of executive aggrandizement in established and emerging democracies (and non-democracies). All kinds of executive aggrandizement or autocratization lead to systematic restriction of political competition, independent media, undermining the judiciary and circumventing the legislature, and ultimately brutal repression – gross violation of human rights.
We anticipate a plenary panel to open the conference focusing specifically on the impact of executive aggrandizement on rule of law, democracy and human rights. We also welcome paper proposals that explore other legal and interdisciplinary topics relating to kinds, methods, and outcomes of executive aggrandizement resulting into gross violation of human rights. We will organize selected papers into several concurrent panels.
Paper proposals are invited on any topic that explores executive aggrandizement and human rights.
To submit a proposal, please email a paper abstract (one to two pages) and CV to the Director of Global Legal Education, Dr. Upendra Acharya, at acharya@nullgonzaga.edu.
The conference is co-sponsored by Gonzaga-In-Florence, the Center for Civil and Human Rights at Gonzaga University School of Law, and the Asian Society of International Law Special Human Rights Interest Group.
The deadline for priority consideration of proposals is February 20, 2026.
A few selected papers with full manuscript will be published in Gonzaga Journal of International Law.
Dr. Upendra D. Acharya
Professor of Law
Distinguished Scholar of International Law
Director, Global Legal Education Program
Gonzaga University School of Law
Email: acharya@nullgonzaga.edu
Tel: +1 509-313-3719