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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 [1] 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), with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Council (UNESCO) and it is a member of the International Social Science Council and of the Global Development Network.
Since its beginning, national political science associations have constituted its core. Its founder members included American, Canadian, French and Indian political science associations. By 1960, 24 more national associations had joined up. Since then, collective membership has been expanding at a steady pace. Today, 52 national associations [2] are collective members of IPSA. Each collective member is represented on IPSA’s central governing organ, the Council. The Council lays down broad policy guidelines for the association and elects the Executive Committee, which is responsible for the conduct of IPSA’s affairs between congresses.
Individual and associate membership was introduced in the early 1950s. Starting with 52 members in 1952, IPSA’s individual membership now stands at more than 3 600 members. The Association has worked hard to increase the involvement of women, who now make up more than a third of the membership. Associate membership is open to institutions engaged in research or teaching in the area of political science and is hovering at around 120 institutions worldwide.
IPSA’s academic activities fall under three main headings: 1) organizing triennial world congresses as well as regular events between congresses; 2) promoting research in political science, notably through a wide-reaching network of research committees (RCs); and 3) disseminating research and information through a range of publications. IPSA’s principal academic activity is the triennial congress. Starting in 1950 and 1952, world congresses have since been taking place every three years. From small beginnings, they have developed into major international scientific occasions, typically attracting about 2000 participants. In addition to these major events, IPSA sponsors other types of scholarly meetings such as conferences, roundtables and workshops.
Since the 1970s, one of the most dynamic areas of growth within IPSA has been the activity of its RCs. In addition to organizing panels at the triennial congresses, RCs organize their own meetings between congresses, publish newsletters and issue other publications. IPSA now has 50 active RCs with interests ranging from political finance to gender and language politics and comparative democratization.
IPSA's extensive publishing program has included International Political Science Abstracts (1951–);[3] International Political Science Review (1980–)[4] and the bulletin of the association.[5] More recently, IPSA has offered an online publication, IPSAPortal, which provides ratings and links for the top 300 web sites for political science worldwide. Finally, IPSA offers a monthly information email called Newsletter.
Quincy Wright, University of Chicago (1949-1952)
William A Robson, London School of Economics (1952-1955)
James K Pollock, University of Michigan (1955-1958)
Jacques Chapsal, FNSP, Paris (1958-1961)
D N Chester, Nuffield College, Oxford (1961-1964)
Jacques Freymond, IUHEI, Geneva (1964-1967)
Carl Joachim Friedrich, Harvard University (1967-1970)
Stein Rokkan, University of Bergen (1970-1973)
Jean Laponce, University of British Columbia (1973-1976)
Karl Deutsch, Harvard University (1976-1979)
Candido Mendes, SBI, Rio de Janeiro (1979-1982)
Klaus von Beyme, University of Heidelberg (1982-1985)
Kinhide Mushakoji, UN University, Tokyo (1985-1988)
Guillermo O’Donnell, CEBRAP, São Paulo/Notre Dame (1988-1991)
Carole Pateman, UCLA, Los Angeles (1991-1994)
Jean Leca, FNSP, Paris (1994-1997)
Theodore J. Lowi, Cornell University (1997-2000)
Dalchoong Kim, Yonsei University (2000-2003)
Max Kaase, International University of Bremen (2003-2006)
Lourdes Sola, University of São Paulo (2006-2009)
Leonardo Morlino, University of Florence (2009-2012)
François Goguel, FNSP, Paris (1949-1950)
Jean Meynaud, FNSP, Paris (1950-1955)
John Goormaghtigh, Brussels (1955-1960)
Serge Hurtig, FNSP, Paris (1960-1967)
André Philippart, Carnegie Endowment, Brussels (1967-1976)
John Trent, University of Ottawa (1976-1988)
Francesco Kjellberg, University of Oslo (1988-1994)
John Coakley, University College Dublin (1994-2000)
Guy Lachapelle, Concordia University (2000-2012)