The functioning of modern societies depends on essential contributions from citizens. Examples include tax payments, vaccine uptake, and military service. Although the voluntary provision of such contributions is widely regarded as desirable, it often falls short of meeting public needs. Consequently, governments across regime types employ measures that are not strictly voluntary or diverge from the principle altogether to ensure compliance. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, voluntary vaccination alone was insufficient to achieve public health goals, prompting the introduction of travel restrictions, tangible incentives, and other measures. Similarly, conscription is a long-standing method used to maintain military service, though its justification and implementation differ across countries. And in some countries with all-volunteer forces, measures such as the provision of post-service benefits are adopted to encourage enlistment.

This workshop will bring together scholars who study (in)voluntary compliance from diverse analytical perspectives and in a variety of empirical contexts.

• Why is voluntary compliance often regarded as desirable? What moral and instrumental rationales underpin its desirability?
• What drives individuals to comply voluntarily? And what role does political trust play in that process?
• When voluntary efforts fall short, what alternative measures are employed? How can these measures be categorized? And how effective are they?
• What does it mean to comply voluntarily in democratic and nondemocratic regimes? And how can these forms of compliance be meaningfully compared?

In addition to the regular panels, the workshop will feature two keynote talks: Katie Attwell (University of Western Australia) will speak on vaccination and Sven Altenburger (University of Oxford) will speak on conscription.

The workshop will take place at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies on 9–10 June 2026. The call for papers has now closed. If you would like to learn more about the workshop, please contact Yue Guan at yue.guan@cas.au.dk.