The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, 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 Susan Stokes of the University of Chicago. 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 included in the Dupont Circle Historic District 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. The purchase of the house happened during Ralph J. Bunche's presidency of APSA (1953-1954), the first African American to serve in that position.

In 1969, Mae C. King was the first woman and first African-American woman to serve as a Senior Staff Associate for the Association. And in 2007, Dianne Pinderhughes served as the first African-American woman president of the association.

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.

Conferences and meetings 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." 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. 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.

Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs 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 donations of APSA members. It 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.

Congressional Fellowship Program The APSA Congressional Fellowship Program is a nonpartisan program devoted to expanding awareness of Congress. Since 1953, it has brought political scientists, journalists, federal employees, health specialists, and other professionals to Capitol Hill to experience Congress at work through fellowship placements on congressional staffs.

Publications 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:

Journals American Political Science Review (APSR) Journal of Political Science Education Perspectives on Politics PS: Political Science & Politics Organized Section Journals

List of APSA presidents

Frank J. Goodnow, 1904–1905 Albert Shaw, 1905–1906 Frederick N. Judson, 1906–1907 James Bryce, 1907–1908 Abbott Lawrence Lowell, 1908–1909 Woodrow Wilson, 1909–1910 Simeon E. Baldwin, 1910–1911 Albert Bushnell Hart, 1911–1912 Westel W. Willoughby, 1912–1913 John Bassett Moore, 1913–1914 Ernst Freund, 1914–1915 Jesse Macy, 1915–1916 Munroe Smith, 1916–1917 Henry Jones Ford, 1917–1918 Paul Samuel Reinsch, 1918–1919 Leo S. Rowe, 1919–1920 William A. Dunning, 1920–1921 Harry A. Garfield, 1921–1922 James Wilford Garner, 1923–1924 Charles E. Merriam, 1924–1925 Charles A. Beard, 1925–1926 William Bennett Munro, 1926–1927 Jesse S. Reeves, 1927–1928 John A. Fairlie, 1928–1929 Benjamin F. Shambaugh, 1929–1930 Edward S. Corwin, 1930–1931 William F. Willoughby, 1931–1932 Isidor Loeb, 1932–1933 Walter J. Shepard, 1933–1934 Francis W. Coker, 1934–1935 Arthur N. Holcombe, 1935–1936 Thomas Reed Powell, 1936–1937 Clarence A. Dykstra, 1937–1938 , 1938–1939 Robert C. Brooks, 1939–1940 Frederic A. Ogg, 1940–1941 William Anderson, 1941–1942 Robert E. Cushman, 1942–1943 Leonard D. White, 1943–1944 John Gaus, 1944–1945 Walter F. Dodd, 1945–1946 Arthur W. MacMahon, 1946–1947 Henry R. Spencer, 1947–1948 Quincy Wright, 1948–1949 James K. Pollock, 1949–1950 Peter H. Odegard, 1950–1951 Luther Gulick, 1951–1952 E. Pendleton Herring, 1952–1953 Ralph J. Bunche, 1953–1954 Charles McKinley, 1954–1955 Harold D. Lasswell, 1955–1956 E.E. Schattschneider, 1956–1957 V.O. Key, Jr., 1957–1958 R. Taylor Cole, 1958–1959 Carl B. Swisher, 1959–1960 Emmette Redford, 1960–1961 Charles S. Hyneman, 1961–1962 Carl J. Friedrich, 1962–1963 C. Herman Pritchett, 1963–1964 David B. Truman, 1964–1965 Gabriel A. Almond, 1965–1966 Robert A. Dahl, 1966–1967 Merle Fainsod, 1967–1968 David Easton, 1968–1969 Karl W. Deutsch, 1969–1970 Robert E. Lane, 1970–1971 Heinz Eulau, 1971–1972 Robert E. Ward, 1972–1973 Avery Leiserson, 1973–1974 Austin Ranney, 1974–1975 James MacGregor Burns, 1975–1976 Samuel H. Beer, 1976–1977 John C. Wahlke, 1977–1978 Leon D. Epstein, 1978–1979 Warren E. Miller, 1979–1980 Charles E. Lindblom, 1980–1981 Seymour Martin Lipset, 1981–1982 William H. Riker, 1982–1983 Philip E. Converse, 1983–1984 Richard F. Fenno, Jr., 1984–1985 Aaron B. Wildavsky, 1985–1986 Samuel P. Huntington, 1986–1987 Kenneth N. Waltz, 1987–1988 Lucian W. Pye, 1988–1989 Judith N. Shklar, 1989–1990 Theodore J. Lowi, 1990–1991 James Q. Wilson, 1991–1992 Lucius J. Barker, 1992–1993 Charles O. Jones, 1993–1994 Sidney Verba, 1994–1995 Arend Lijphart, 1995–1996 Elinor Ostrom, 1996–1997 M. Kent Jennings, 1997–1998 Matthew Holden Jr., 1998–1999 Robert O. Keohane, 1999–2000 Robert Jervis, 2000–2001 Robert Putnam, 2001–2002 Theda Skocpol, 2002–2003 Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, 2003–2004 Margaret Levi, 2004–2005 Ira Katznelson, 2005–2006 Robert Axelrod, 2006–2007 Dianne Pinderhughes, 2007–2008 Peter Katzenstein, 2008–2009 Henry E. Brady, 2009–2010 Carole Pateman, 2010–2011 G. Bingham Powell, 2011–2012 Jane Mansbridge, 2012–2013 John Aldrich, 2013–2014 Rodney E. Hero, 2014–2015 Jennifer Hochschild, 2015–2016 David A. Lake, 2016–2017 Kathleen Thelen, 2017–2018 Rogers Smith, 2018–2019 Paula D. McClain 2019–2020 Janet Box-Steffensmeier, 2020–2021 John Ishiyama, 2021–2022 Lisa Martin, 2022–2023 Mark E. Warren, 2023–2024 Taeku Lee, 2024–2025 Susan Stokes, 2025–2026 Beth Simmons, President-Elect

APSA organized sections APSA members may also join the 52 membership organized sections focused around research themes in political science.

1. Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations 2. Law and Courts 3. Legislative Studies 4. Public Policy 5. Political Organizations and Parties 6. Public Administration 7. Conflict Processes 8. Representation and Electoral Systems 9. Presidents and Executive Politics 10. Political Methodology 11. Religion and Politics 13. Urban Politics 15. Science, Technology and Environmental Politics 16. Women and Politics Research 17. Foundations of Political Theory 18. Information Technology and Politics 19. International Security 20. Comparative Politics 21. European Politics and Society 22. State Politics and Policy 23. Political Communication 24. Politics and History 25. Political Economy 27. New Political Science 28. Political Psychology 29. Political Science Education 30. Politics, Literature, and Film 31. Foreign Policy 32. Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior 33. Race, Ethnicity and Politics 34. International History and Politics 35. Comparative Democratization 36. Human Rights 37. Qualitative and Multi-method Research 38. Sexuality and Politics 39. Health Politics and Policy 40. Canadian Politics 41. Political Networks 42. Experimental Research 43. Migration and Citizenship 44. African Politics 45. Class and Inequality 46. Ideas, Knowledge and Politics 47. American Political Thought 48. International Collaboration 49. Middle East and North Africa Politics 50. Civic Engagement 51. Education Politics and Policy 52. Formal Theory 53. International Relations Theory 54. American Political Economy 55. South Asian Politics

Awards To recognize excellence in the profession, the Association offers awards in the following categories: Dissertation Awards Paper and Article Awards Book Awards Career Awards Teaching Award and Campus Teaching Award Recognition These awards are presented at the Association's Annual Meeting.

In addition to the APSA awards, the APSA organized sections also present over 200 awards annually to recognize important research and contributions to the profession. These awards are presented at the section's business meetings and receptions, held in conjunction with the APSA Annual Meeting.

David Easton Award The David Easton Award is presented to a book that pushes the boundaries of contemporary political science by investigating fundamental philosophical questions about political life through interdisciplinary approaches in the social sciences and humanities. The winners are:

1997 – Jürgen Habermas 1998 – Robert Putnam 1999 – David Laitin 2000 – Jennifer Hochschild 2001 – Rogers Smith 2002 – Nancy Rosenblum 2003 – Sheldon Wolin 2004 – Scott Althaus 2005 – Ira Katznelson