Southern Political Science Association

Southern Political Science Association
Name	Southern Political Science Association
Formation	1929
Headquarters	New Orleans, Louisiana
Region served	Southern United States
Leader title	President
Leader name	(varies)
Website	(official website)

Southern Political Science Association

The Southern Political Science Association is a regional scholarly society founded in 1929 that convenes academics, practitioners, and students from across the United States and internationally. It hosts annual meetings, publishes peer-reviewed research, and recognizes scholarship in political science through awards and fellowships. The association has long-standing interactions with universities, journals, and professional organizations in the social sciences.

History

Founded in 1929 during an era of institutional expansion in American higher education, the association emerged amid debates shaped by figures associated with University of Virginia, Tulane University, Vanderbilt University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Emory University. Early meetings drew contributors connected to National Science Foundation-era funding initiatives and the growth of graduate programs at Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, and Princeton University. Over decades the association's annual conferences alternated sites including Atlanta, Georgia, New Orleans, Louisiana, Nashville, Tennessee, and Charleston, South Carolina, reflecting regional academic networks anchored by institutions such as Georgia State University, Louisiana State University, Duke University, and University of Florida. During the mid-20th century its members debated topics influenced by events like the Cold War, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and court decisions from the United States Supreme Court. Faculty affiliated with centers like the Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute, Urban Institute, and Russell Sage Foundation frequently presented research that shaped curricula at schools including Brown University, Yale University, Stanford University, and Harvard University.

Mission and Activities

The association promotes research and teaching in political studies through conferences, panel sessions, and publication initiatives that engage scholars from Princeton University, University of Michigan, Ohio State University, Texas A&M University, and Michigan State University. It sponsors pedagogical workshops involving faculty from University of Texas at Austin, Pennsylvania State University, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Rutgers University. Collaborative projects have linked members with policy organizations such as Council on Foreign Relations, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Center for Strategic and International Studies, World Bank, and United Nations, while methodological training draws on resources from American Political Science Association, Association for Political Theory, International Studies Association, Law and Society Association, and Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

Conferences and Publications

Annual meetings typically feature keynote addresses, roundtables, and symposia with participants drawn from Georgetown University, George Washington University, New York University, University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, Los Angeles. The association publishes proceedings, edited volumes, and collaborates with journals and presses associated with Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, University of Chicago Press, and Johns Hopkins University Press. Panels often include contributors who publish in periodicals like American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Political Research Quarterly, and World Politics. Special issues and monographs have engaged scholarship on topics sparked by events such as the Watergate scandal, the Iraq War (2003–2011), and the Great Recession (2007–2009), with comparative work referencing cases like United Kingdom general election, 1997, South African general election, 1994, Indian general election, 2014, and Brazilian general election, 2018.

Membership and Governance

Membership includes faculty, graduate students, and practitioners affiliated with institutions including Cornell University, University of Southern California, Boston University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and University of Minnesota. Governance follows a board and committee structure similar to those of American Political Science Association and Modern Language Association, with elected officers drawn from departments at Wake Forest University, Mercer University, Auburn University, Mississippi State University, and Clemson University. Ethics, finance, and program committees coordinate with administrative staff based in cities such as Charlotte, North Carolina, Birmingham, Alabama, and Richmond, Virginia. The association adheres to bylaws influenced by nonprofit standards used by organizations including National Research Council and American Council of Learned Societies.

Awards and Recognition

The association confers prizes and fellowships recognizing scholarship, teaching, and public service, echoing awards frameworks from Guggenheim Fellowship, MacArthur Fellowship, Fulbright Program, Phi Beta Kappa, and discipline-specific honors like the V.O. Key Jr. Book Award and the Samuel H. Beer Prize. Prize committees have awarded distinguished career honors to scholars affiliated with Princeton University, Yale University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Duke University, and recognized early-career research linked to research centers such as Harvard Kennedy School, London School of Economics, Annenberg School for Communication, and Syracuse University’s Maxwell School.

Relationship with Other Organizations

The association maintains connections and cooperative arrangements with professional bodies including American Political Science Association, Southern Regional Education Board, National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, Council of Graduate Schools, and Association of American Universities. It partners with journals and presses tied to Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and university presses at University of North Carolina Press and University Press of Florida for special publications. Collaborative sessions have been co-sponsored with International Studies Association, Law and Society Association, African Studies Association, Latin American Studies Association, and Middle East Studies Association to foster interdisciplinary exchange.

Category:Learned societies of the United States