Midwest Political Science Association

Midwest Political Science Association
Name	Midwest Political Science Association
Abbreviation	MPSA
Formation	1939
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois
Region served	United States
Leader title	President

Midwest Political Science Association is a scholarly society that convenes researchers, educators, and students in the social sciences. It organizes a major annual meeting that attracts participants from universities, think tanks, and policy institutes across North America and beyond. The association supports peer-reviewed journals, methodological training, and awards that recognize contributions to political analysis and comparative inquiry.

History

The association traces origins to gatherings inspired by scholars at University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan, and Indiana University Bloomington in the late 1930s. Early conferences featured participants affiliated with Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, Princeton University, and University of Pennsylvania who exchanged work influenced by methods from Chicago School (sociology), Columbia School of Journalism, and colleagues linked to American Political Science Association. Postwar growth paralleled expansion at institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ohio State University, and University of Wisconsin–Madison. During the Cold War era scholars connected to RAND Corporation, Brookings Institution, Hoover Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Council on Foreign Relations presented work on topics intersecting with debates of the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and the NATO alliance. Later decades saw methodological diversification with contributors from Swarthmore College, Syracuse University, Duke University, Vanderbilt University, and University of Texas at Austin bringing quantitative, qualitative, and experimental approaches influenced by traditions traced to Paul Lazarsfeld, Gabriel Almond, Robert Dahl, and figures associated with Behavioralism.

Organization and Governance

The association is governed by an elected board including scholars from Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, Brown University, and Washington University in St. Louis. Executive roles have been held by faculty with affiliations to University of California, Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Boston University, Rutgers University, and Penn State University. Committees coordinate programming with partners such as American Association for Public Opinion Research, International Political Science Association, European Consortium for Political Research, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, and regional groups linked to Southern Political Science Association and Western Political Science Association. The bylaws reflect standards similar to those of Modern Language Association and American Historical Association, and governance practices engage procedures used by National Science Foundation panels and peer review systems employed by National Institutes of Health study sections.

Annual Conference

The annual meeting, historically held in Chicago Loop, attracts panelists from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Michigan State University, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and University of Minnesota. Sessions often mirror themes appearing in work published by scholars at Yeshiva University, CUNY Graduate Center, Temple University, University of Iowa, and Iowa State University. Keynote and plenary speakers have included affiliate scholars associated with Princeton University, Harvard Kennedy School, London School of Economics, Sciences Po, and Oxford University. Panels and roundtables feature methodological tutorials referencing techniques from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, University of California, San Diego, Emory University, and University of Florida. The conference infrastructure involves exhibitors from presses such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Princeton University Press, University of Chicago Press, and Routledge.

Publications and Research

The association sponsors peer-reviewed outlets that showcase work by authors affiliated with Stanford University, Harvard University, Yale University, MIT, and Columbia University. Journal content often engages comparative studies referencing casework on United Kingdom general election, 2019, French Fifth Republic, German reunification, European Union, and United States presidential election, 2020. Special issues have included contributions from researchers tied to Princeton University Press, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, and SAGE Publications. Methodological tutorials draw on techniques refined at ICPSR, Harvard Dataverse, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, and data centers at University of Michigan. The association’s research networks collaborate with scholars from Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Sciences Po/Centre de recherches politiques, Australian National University, University of Toronto, and National University of Singapore.

Membership and Affiliations

Membership includes faculty, graduate students, and independent scholars from Columbia University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Amherst College, and Reed College. Institutional affiliations span Think tanks such as Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, Economic Policy Institute, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Urban Institute as well as public agencies like Library of Congress and academic units at University of California system. The association maintains collaborative ties with international bodies including International Political Science Association, European Consortium for Political Research, Latin American Studies Association, and intergovernmental organizations like United Nations research institutes.

Awards and Recognition

The association bestows awards recognizing scholarship connected to figures and works associated with Robert A. Dahl Prize-style honors, book prizes akin to those from American Political Science Association, article awards similar to Journal of Politics distinctions, and mentorship recognitions comparable to Guggenheim Fellowship laureates. Recipients have included authors affiliated with Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University, University of Chicago, and Columbia University, and award ceremonies often coincide with panels honoring legacies linked to scholars such as Elinor Ostrom, Samuel P. Huntington, Theda Skocpol, Hannah Arendt, and John Rawls.

Category:Political science organizations