Rutgers Model Congress 2026

Hello, and welcome to Rutgers Model Congress 2026!

The conference will be held from April 9-12, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey. I am excited to share this year’s conference theme, The Limits of Representation.

The American identity, felt at home and seen abroad, is formed in part by the principles that underline our democratic political system. Only in the last several years, however, have we as citizens begun to re-assess the fundamental limitations of our own representative system. Struggles for power between our branches of government have generated renewed discussions of what ‘true democracy’ looks like, and whether our system embodies that ideal.

The one-person, one-vote system of representation is so deeply entrenched that we often find it to be beyond reproach. Our founding fathers settled on representative democracy as a compromise, safeguarding the system from a “tyranny of the majority” while allowing citizens to participate, albeit on an abstracted level.

A consequence of this system has been the acceptance of the reality that in the places where the highest-level decisions are made, the average citizen’s participation is merely by proxy of their representative. Whether it be an elected official or a bureaucrat, someone else will be speaking and acting on behalf of the populace. Today, as public dissatisfaction with both major political parties reaches unprecedented heights, this relationship is subject to re-examination.

The topics selected for RMC 2026 aim to challenge students to answer the question: what are the limits of our representative system, and to what extent are Americans willing to sacrifice direct democracy for pragmatic government? Students will have the opportunity to engage with modern policy disputes, as well as historical alternatives to and failures of legislative representation. By the end of RMC 2026, we hope students will walk away with the ability to confront systemic issues in tandem with tangible policies and design solutions that blend theoretical and practical perspectives.

It is my fervent hope that the dedicated effort of our RMC staff shines through in each committee offered. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with any feedback or questions at info@idia.net.

We cannot wait to see you all there!

Sincerely,
Summer Roberts
Executive Director
RMC 2026

Browse the committees available at this year’s RMC, and start the registration process.

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