From 27 to 28 March 2025, the German Political Science Association (Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft, DVPW) met at Saarland University for an international symposium entitled “Citizen's trust and societal polarization in times of transformation. Comparative Perspectives from different world regions” to discuss one of the most pressing problems of representative democracy: the dwindling trust of citizens in political systems and institutions. The symposium of the “Comparative Politics” section of the DVPW was organised by Professor Daniela Braun, leading the EU-funded research project ActEU in cooperation with the University of Duisburg-Essen, and coordinator of the PROTEMO project, Professor Georg Wenzelburger.

To bring science and practice together and include political perspectives, the conference program also included a practical discussion on “Transformation and trust in politics” with Saarland's Prime Minster Anke Rehlinger.

The DVPW conference takes place annually and aims at established academics as well as doctoral students and postdocs.