American Political Science Association

American Political Science Association
Original: American Political Science Association Vector: Pantarch · Public domain · source
Name	American Political Science Association
Formed	1903
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Leader title	President
Leader name	Vacant
Website	Official website

American Political Science Association

The American Political Science Association is a U.S.-based professional association for scholars of political science founded in 1903 to advance the study of politics and public affairs. It connects researchers, teachers, and practitioners associated with institutions such as Harvard University, Stanford University, Princeton University, University of Chicago and Columbia University. The association engages with topics addressed by actors like the United States Congress, the Supreme Court of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank through publications, meetings, and advocacy.

History

The association was established in the context of early-20th-century debates among figures linked to Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, John Dewey, Charles A. Beard and institutions including the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Early leaders corresponded with scholars at Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, Columbia University and the University of Michigan. Over decades the association intersected with events such as the New Deal, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War and the expansion of area studies tied to agencies like the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation. Prominent past presidents and awardees include scholars associated with Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Oxford University, Cambridge University and the London School of Economics.

Mission and Activities

The association promotes research and teaching through collaborations with entities such as the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Fulbright Program and the Guggenheim Foundation. It advocates on issues before bodies like the United States Department of Education, the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the United States Department of State. Programmatic priorities have reflected debates about the Constitution of the United States, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Affordable Care Act, and comparative studies involving the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, India, Brazil and South Africa.

Membership and Organization

Membership has drawn faculty, graduate students, and practitioners affiliated with universities such as University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern University. Governance structures include an elected council, committees, and sections tied to topical networks like the Section on Comparative Politics, the Section on International Relations, the Section on Political Methodology and the Section on Public Administration. The association interacts with state and regional groups including the Southern Political Science Association, the Midwest Political Science Association, the Western Political Science Association and international partners such as the International Political Science Association.

Publications and Journals

The association publishes flagship outlets and works closely with publishers connected to Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, MIT Press and Princeton University Press. Its principal journal appears alongside peer journals like American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, World Politics and International Organization. It issues monographs, reports, and teaching resources used in courses at institutions such as Georgetown University, George Washington University, New York University, University of California, Los Angeles and Brown University. Editorial boards have included scholars with ties to Stanford Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, Yale School of Management and Columbia Business School.

Awards and Honors

The association confers prizes and honors that recognize scholarship related to works comparable to the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, the Pulitzer Prize, the Bancroft Prize and the National Book Award. Named awards have honored contributions akin to those by scholars associated with Robert Dahl, Hannah Arendt, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Rawls and Samuel Huntington. Recipients have held positions at Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University, University of Chicago and Oxford University and have been recognized for books, articles, and lifetime achievement across comparative, normative, and quantitative subfields.

Conferences and Meetings

Annual and regional meetings convene scholars who present research alongside panels involving participants from Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Council on Foreign Relations, RAND Corporation and the American Enterprise Institute. The association's meetings have hosted sessions with representatives from bodies such as the United States Senate, the House Committee on the Judiciary, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Conferences often include job market events attended by delegations from University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University and University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Category:Learned societies of the United States