Formation | 1903 |
---|---|
Type | Professional association |
Headquarters | 1527 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Location |
|
Region | United States |
Fields | Political science |
President | Mark E. Warren |
Executive Director | Steven Rathgeb Smith |
Main organ | 4 journals |
Website | apsanet |
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, [1] it publishes four academic journals: American Political Science Review , Perspectives on Politics , Journal of Political Science Education, and PS – Political Science & Politics . APSA Organized Sections publish or are associated with 15 additional journals.
APSA presidents serve one-year terms. The current president is Mark E. Warren of the University of British Columbia. [2] Woodrow Wilson, who later became President of the United States, was APSA president in 1909. APSA's headquarters are at 1527 New Hampshire Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., in a historic building that was owned by Admiral George Remy, labor leader Samuel Gompers, the American War Mothers, and Harry Garfield, son of President James A. Garfield and president of the association from 1921 to 1922. [3]
APSA administers the Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs, which offers fellowships, conference, research space and grants for scholars, and administers Pi Sigma Alpha, the honor society for political science students. It also periodically sponsors seminars and other events for political scientists, policymakers, the media, and the general public.
The association broadly aims to encourage scholarly understanding of political ideas, norms, behaviors, and institutions, and to inform public choices about government, governance, and public policy. APSA's mission is to "support excellence in scholarship and teaching and informed discourse about politics, policy and civic participation." [4] APSA conducts several annual conferences, which provide an environment for scholars and other professionals to network and present their work, along with other pertinent and useful resources. The APSA Annual Meeting is among the world's largest gatherings of political scientists. It occurs on Labor Day weekend each summer.
The APSA Teaching and Learning Conference is a smaller working group conference hosting cutting-edge approaches, techniques, and methodologies for the political science classroom. The conference provides a forum for scholars to share effective and innovative teaching and learning models and to discuss broad themes and values of political science education—especially the scholarship of teaching and learning.
With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, APSA has organized political science workshops in various locations in Africa, APSA Africa Workshops. [5] The first workshop was convened in Dakar, Senegal in partnership with the West African Research Center from July 6–27, 2008. The annual residential workshops are led by a joint U.S. and African organizing team and aimed at mid-and junior-level scholars residing in Africa. They will enhance the capacities of political scientists and their resources in East and West Africa while also providing a forum for supporting their ongoing research. Each three week workshop brings together up to 30 scholars and cover substantive issues, methodologies, and reviews of research. See also, APSA International Programs.
To recognize excellence in the profession, the Association offers the following awards:
In addition to the APSA awards, the APSA organized sections also present over 100 awards at every Annual Meeting to recognize important research and contributions to the profession. These awards are presented at the Association's Annual Meeting. [6]
Through its facilities and endowed funding programs, APSA'S Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs supports political science teaching, research, and public engagement. Opened in 2003, the centenary of APSA's establishment, the Centennial Center encourages individual research and writing in all fields of political science, facilitates collaboration among scholars working within the discipline and across the social and behavioral sciences and humanities, and promotes communication between scholars and the public.
The Centennial Center, its facilities, and research support programs continue to be made possible in part through the generous donations of APSA members. The Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs assists APSA members with the costs of research, including travel, interviews, access to archives, or costs for a research assistant. Funds can also be used to assist scholars in publishing their research. Grants can range in size from $500 to $10,000, depending upon the research fund.
The APSA Congressional Fellowship Program is a highly selective, nonpartisan program devoted to expanding knowledge and awareness of Congress. Since 1953, it has brought select political scientists, journalists, federal employees, health specialists, and other professionals to Capitol Hill to experience Congress at work through fellowship placements on congressional staffs.
The nine-month program begins each November with an intensive one-month introduction to Congress taught by leading experts in the field. After orientation, fellows work in placements of their choosing and also participate in ongoing seminars and enrichment programs.
Through this unique opportunity, the American Political Science Association enhances public understanding of policymaking and improves the quality of scholarship, teaching and reporting on American national politics. [7]
One key component of APSA's mission is to support political science education and the professional development of its practitioners. The APSA publications program attempts to fill the diverse needs of political scientists in academic settings as well as practitioners working outside of academia, and students at various stages of their education.
APSA members may also join the 41 membership organized sections focused around research themes in political science. [lower-alpha 1]
Since 2015, they have conducted three rankings of American Presidents.
In 2015, Republican President Abraham Lincoln was rated the greatest President, while Democratic President James Buchanan was considered the worst. Barack Obama, president at the time of the survey, was ranked 18th. [8]
In 2018, Republican Abraham Lincoln was ranked the greatest American President, while Donald Trump, president at the time of the survey, was ranked last. [9] [10] [11]
In 2024, Republican Abraham Lincoln was ranked the greatest American President for the third time, while Republican Donald Trump was ranked last for the second time. Democrat Joe Biden, president at the time of this survey, was ranked 13th, tied with Federalist John Adams. [12] [13]
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and laws.
In political studies, surveys have been conducted in order to construct historical rankings of the success of the presidents of the United States. Ranking systems are usually based on surveys of academic historians and political scientists or popular opinion. The scholarly rankings focus on presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures, and faults. Popular-opinion polls typically focus on recent or well-known presidents.
Robert Owen Keohane is an American academic working within the fields of international relations and international political economy. Following the publication of his influential book After Hegemony (1984), he has become widely associated with the theory of neoliberal institutionalism in international relations, as well as transnational relations and world politics in international relations in the 1970s.
Theodore J. "Ted" Lowi was an American political scientist. He was the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions teaching in the Government Department at Cornell University. His area of research was the American government and public policy. He was a member of the core faculty of the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs.
The International Political Science Association (IPSA), founded under the auspices of UNESCO in 1949, is an international scholarly association. IPSA is devoted to the advancement of political science in all parts of the world. During its history it has helped build bridges between East and West, North and South, and has promoted collaboration between scholars in both established and emerging democracies. Its aim is to create a global political science community in which all can participate, most recently it has been extending its reach in Eastern Europe and Latin America. IPSA has consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) and it is a member of the International Science Council, which brings together over 230 science organizations across the world and actively cooperates with partners from the United Nations system, such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Karen Orren is an American political scientist, noted for her research on American political institutions and social movements, analyzed in historical perspective, and for helping to stimulate the study of American political development.
David Collier is an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics. He is Chancellor's Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He works in the fields of comparative politics, Latin American politics, and methodology. His father was the anthropologist Donald Collier.
The Women & Politics Institute (WPI) is a research institute located in the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, D.C. Their mission is to close the gender gap in political leadership. The institute provides young women with academic and practical training that encourages them to become involved in the political process. It facilitates research to enhance the understanding of the challenges women face in the political arena.
Mathew Daniel McCubbins was the Ruth F. De Varney Professor of Political Science and professor of law, in the Department of Political Science and School of Law at Duke University.
Jeffrey A. Winters is an American political scientist at Northwestern University, specialising in the study of oligarchy. He has written extensively on Indonesia and on oligarchy in the United States. His 2011 book Oligarchy was the 2012 winner of the American Political Science Association's Luebbert Award for the Best Book in Comparative politics.
William G. Howell is an American political scientist and author. He is the Sydney Stein Professor in American Politics at Chicago Harris and a professor in the Department of Political Science and the College at the University of Chicago. He has written widely on separation-of-powers issues and American political institutions, especially the presidency.
Tali Mendelberg is the John Work Garrett Professor in Politics at Princeton University, co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics, and director of the Program on Inequality at the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice, and winner of the American Political Science Association (APSA), 2002 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Book Award for her book, The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality.
Robert Agranoff was an American political scientist and public administration scholar and author. A Professor Emeritus at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Agranoff was best known for his contributions to the field of collaborative public management and intergovernmental management.
Henry Eugene Brady is an American political scientist specializing in methodology and its application in a diverse array of political fields. He was Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at University of California, Berkeley from 2009–2021 and holds the Class of 1941 Monroe Deutsch Professor of Political Science and Public Policy. He was elected President of the American Political Science Association, 2009–2010, giving a presidential address entitled "The Art of Political Science: Spatial Diagrams as Iconic and Revelatory." He has published academic works on diverse topics, co-authoring with colleagues at a variety of institutions and ranks, as well as many solo authored works. His principal areas of research are on political behavior in the United States, Canada, and the former Soviet Union, public policy and methodological work on scaling and dimensional analysis. When he became President of the American Political Science Association, a number of his colleagues and co-authors contributed to his presidential biography entitled "Henry Brady, Big Scientist," discussing his work and the fields to which he has contributed and has also shaped.
Suzanne Mettler is an American political scientist and author, known for her research about the way Americans view and respond to the government in their lives, and helping to stimulate the study of American political development.
Sarah A. Binder is an American political scientist, author, senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, and professor of political science at George Washington University's Columbian College of Arts and Science.
Shelby Faye Lewis is an American political scientist and African studies scholar. She was a professor at a series of academic institutions and also worked as an international development consultant, ultimately becoming professor emerita at Clark Atlanta University, where she has also served multiple times as the Interim Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed her to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Mona Lena Krook is an American political scientist. She is a Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, where she is also the Chair of the Women and Politics Ph.D. Program. She studies the political representation of women, particularly gender quotas in governments and the phenomenon of violence against women in politics.
Shana Alyse Kushner Gadarian is an American political scientist, political psychologist, and educator. She is the Merle Goldberg Fabian Professor of Excellence in Citizenship and Critical Thinking and Chair of the Department of Political Science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University. Her co-authored book Anxious Politics: Democratic Citizenship in a Threatening World received the Robert E. Lane Award for being the best book in political psychology published in 2015.