IPSA was founded in 1949 under UNESCO sponsorship. Since then, national political science associations have constituted its core. Its founder members were, indeed, national associations, and included American, Canadian, French and Indian political science associations.
In its early stage, collective membership of national associations dominated IPSA’s participation structure. In 1950, Israel, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom joined IPSA’s ranks, while Austria, Belgium, Greece and Mexico became affiliated to the Association in 1951. In 1952, six coalitions united with IPSA: Brazil, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan and Yugoslavia. By 1960, 10 more national associations had joined up: Australia and the Netherlands (1954), Ceylon, Cuba and the Soviet Union (1955), Egypt and Norway (1956), Lebanon and Spain (1958), and finally Switzerland (1959).
Of course not all of these associations survived as IPSA members; some indeed have completely disappeared. However, given the increasing number of newly affiliated associations, IPSA’s collective membership has been expanding at a steady pace. At present, 45 associations are registered as collective members.
In terms of fees payable to IPSA, collective members have been divided into several categories based on indicators such as relative wealth and capacity to pay. Since 1960, the latter has been determined by the size of the countries’ relative contribution to the UNESCO budget. Each collective member is further represented on IPSA’s central governing organ, the Council, by one, two or three members. 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.
IPSA’s collective membership recording remarkable success, individual and associate membership has been introduced in the early 1950s. Starting with 52 individual members in 1952, this number has increased steadily until the late 1960s and early 1970s when individual membership was hovering close to the 400–500 mark. However, rapid expansion in the late 1970s has created the present position with IPSA’s individual membership now comprising over 1500 registered members.
Associate membership open to institutions engaged in research or teaching in the area of political science has expanded steadily until the mid-1960s; since then, it is hovering about an average of approximately 100 registered institutions.
IPSA’s principal academic activities concentrate on its triennial scholarly meetings. Starting with two congresses in 1950 and 1952, world congresses have been taking place every three years since. From small beginnings, they have developed into major international scientific occasions, typically attracting about 2,000 participants. In addition to these major events, IPSA is sponsoring other types of scholarly meetings such as roundtables and workshops.
One of the most dynamic areas of growth within IPSA has been the activity of its research committees and study groups, starting from scratch in the 1970s and constantly expanding since. In addition to organizing panels at the triennial congresses, research committees and study groups organize their own meetings between congresses, publish newsletters and issue
other publications.
IPSA has also been extremely active in the area of publishing. In addition to sponsoring books, reports and edited collections on an ad-hoc basis, it has created its own systematic publishing policy. Starting in 1951 with the first issue of the International Political Science Abstracts, this very popular collection of field-related articles now appears six times per year in its printed version and has even been made available on CD-ROM in 1995. In 1980, IPSA started publishing the International Political Science Review, a quarterly journal of scholarly articles that cover all sub-fields of the discipline. A book series, initiated during the 1970s, has recently been re-launched under the title Advances in Political Science: An International Series. Since 1977, the IPSA secretariat is publishing its own newsletter, Participation. Finally, in the last decade, IPSA has an online publication, the IPSA Portal. The aim of the Portal is to foster on-line research, providing authoritative guidance to students and scholars worldwide.
|
IPSA Newsletter
Participation - The biannual bulletin of the International Political Science Association.
International Political Science Review - The IPSA Journal, with five issues per year.
International Political Science Abstracts - Political science abstracts together with worldwide coverage and perspective.
IPSA Portal - The top 300 political science Websites.
Santiago 2009 - The next triennial World Congress of IPSA, July 2009.
