The Italian Standing Group on Political Regimes brings together scholars who study democracies, autocracies, global and regional trends of democratization and autocratization, the processes of regime change, the determinants of these phenomena, as well as how the lives of millions of people could be affected by the way in which regimes work, change over time, and sometimes break down. It is pluralistic in terms of the theoretical and methodological perspectives adopted. It does not confine itself to a specific region, let alone a single country, and encourages the development of a global and non-Western-centric perspective.

The SG on Political Regimes aims to enhance cooperation among scholars, both within its boundaries and with related foreign standing groups, who work on topics that fall in its areas of interest. It does so by promoting the organization of a section within the SISP annual conference and organizing an annual meeting that brings together researchers, especially early-career ones, from Europe and beyond. Moreover, through an account on X (former Twitter), the SG circulates and forwards messages and announcements about conferences, publications, job positions, and the like that might be of interest to its members.

The SG on Political Regimes was created in late 2018 as the SG on Regime Changes. It took its current name in 2021. Between 2019 and 2023, it was chaired by Andrea Cassani and Luca Tomini. Since September 2023, Tiziana Corda and Gianni Del Panta have been coordinating its activities.