American Political Science Association

What American Political Science Association does

The American Political Science Association (APSA), founded in 1903 and headquartered at 1527 New Hampshire Ave NW in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit professional membership organization serving the discipline of political science. APSA represents approximately 34,000 members organized across 95 subfield sections, including political science faculty and researchers, graduate students, K-12 educators, applied/non-academic professionals, and academic departments at colleges and universities. The association maintains a small staff of 51-100 employees and is governed by an elected Council and Officers.

APSA's core technology consists of digital platforms including apsanet.org (main website), members.apsanet.org (membership portal), connect.apsanet.org (APSA Connect networking community with dedicated iOS and Android apps), politicalsciencenow.com (daily news site), and APSA Educate (online teaching library). The organization publishes four flagship peer-reviewed journals — American Political Science Review, Perspectives on Politics, PS: Political Science & Politics, and Journal of Political Science Education — alongside APSA Preprints, Political Science Today magazine, and award-lecture archives hosted via JSTOR. Supporting programs include the eJobs career platform, the Congressional Fellowship Program, the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute, the Diversity Fellowship Program, and grant programs (DDRIG, Diversity Advancing Research Grants, Travel Grants, Fund for Latino Scholarship).

Revenue is generated through five principal streams: recurring membership dues (individual, departmental, interdisciplinary, institutional), conference and event registration (Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Teaching & Learning Conference, Virtual Research Meeting), publication subscriptions and sales, transactional eJobs posting fees ($300 initial month / $150 subsequent month for non-members, free for departmental members), and charitable donations through the Annual Fund, Legacy Society, Ralph J. Bunche Fund, memorial funds, and the RBSI Endowment. Distribution occurs through digital self-serve channels (websites, member portal, APSA Connect, eJobs), the in-person annual conference, and institutional journal subscriptions. APSA maintains strategic partnerships with Cambridge University Press, Duke University Press, Oxford University Press, Yale University Press, Cornell University Press, University of Minnesota, and JSTOR.

Name

American Political Science Association

Legal name

American Political Science Association

Website

https://apsanet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1903

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The American Political Science Association is a non-profit professional membership organization serving political science scholars, faculty, graduate students, and departments through peer-reviewed journals, a networking platform of 34,000 members, conferences, career services, and research grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Policy, Research & Advocacy Organizations (Nonprofit) (BPAGADAN)

Keywords

• Professional association services
• Academic journal publishing
• Political science conferences
• Scholarly networking platforms
• Research grant programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Individual memberships for faculty, students, K-12 educators, consultants, and researchers; departmental memberships; interdisciplinary memberships; and institutional subscriptions. Revenue from recurring membership fees.
2. Conference and Events: Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Teaching & Learning Conference, Virtual Research Meeting, and various APSA conferences. Revenue from registration fees.
3. Publications: Sale of journals, books, brochures, and publication permissions. Revenue from subscriptions and one-time purchases of academic publications.
4. Job Postings: eJobs platform fees for non-member job postings ($300 initial month, $150 subsequent months). Departmental members receive unlimited free job postings.
5. Donations and Fundraising: Annual Fund donations, legacy society contributions, Ralph J. Bunche Fund, memorial funds, and RBSI Endowment Fund donations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

American Political Science Association (APSA) is a nonprofit professional membership association that supports the discipline of political science through individual and departmental memberships, peer-reviewed academic journals, an annual conference and exhibitions, dissertation and diversity research grants, and digital platforms for professional networking and career placement. It operates career services (eJobs), a member networking community (APSA Connect), an online teaching library (APSA Educate), preprint services, fellowship programs, and diversity initiatives such as the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute.

Product overview

APSA is a professional association offering a platform of interconnected products and services for political science scholars. Its core offerings include four peer-reviewed journals (American Political Science Review, Perspectives on Politics, PS: Political Science & Politics, and Journal of Political Science Education), career development tools (APSA eJobs platform), professional networking (APSA Connect with 95 sections and 33,000+ members), an online teaching library (APSA Educate), and preprint services. APSA supports scholars through fellowship programs (Congressional Fellowship, Diversity Fellowship, Ralph Bunche Summer Institute), research grants (DDRIG, Diversity Advancing Research Grants, Travel Grants), and hosts major conferences including the Annual Meeting & Exhibition and Teaching & Learning Conference. Political Science Today serves as the association's public-facing publication.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• APSA eJobs: Online job board and career platform for political science positions
• APSA Connect
• APSA Educate
• PoliticalScienceNow.com

Products and services

• American Political Science Review (APSR)

Quantifiable outcome

• 33,994 members served through professional networking platform
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• University of MinnesotacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Minnesota provides support for the Benjamin E. Lippincott Award, contributing $10,000 cash prize for the annual award honoring exceptional political theory work.
• Cambridge University PresscoreTechnology or IntegrationCambridge University Press publishes the Politics and Religion journal (P&R) for the Religion and Politics APSA Organized Section, with a 5-year editorship cycle.
• Partner AssociationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAPSA maintains partner association relationships for interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-promotion of professional development opportunities.
• Congressional Fellowship Program Partner OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with various congressional offices and government agencies to host APSA Congressional Fellows for professional development placements.
• JSTORcoreTechnology or IntegrationDigital library partnership for archival access to APSA award lectures and historical academic content.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• American Economic Association: Premier U.S. professional association for economists, directly comparable to APSA in structure: membership dues, flagship journals (AER), annual meetings, JOE job board, and departmental memberships. Closest analogue by scale, governance, and product mix.
• American Sociological Association: U.S. professional association for sociologists with analogous structure: peer-reviewed journals, annual meeting, sectional organization, and a job board. Closely comparable membership-association model in a neighboring social science.
• International Studies Association: Major international political science/IR association operating an annual convention, journals (International Studies Review, International Studies Quarterly), and member services — directly overlapping with APSA's political science mandate on the international and IR subfield.
• Midwest Political Science Association: Runs the second-largest U.S. political science annual conference (MPSA) and publishes the American Journal of Political Science. Comparable product set (conference + journal) and competes head-to-head with APSA's Annual Meeting for political science scholars.
• Southern Political Science Association: U.S.-based regional political science association that holds an annual meeting (SPSA) and publishes the Journal of Politics. A longstanding competitor to APSA for both annual-meeting attendance and political science journal submissions.
• International Political Science Association: Global umbrella political science organization affiliated with UNESCO, holding a triennial world congress and publishing International Political Science Review. Competes with APSA for international political science membership and conference share.
• European Consortium for Political Research: Europe-based political science consortium with a large general conference and joint journals (EPSR). Directly comparable scholarly association structure to APSA, primarily serving non-U.S. members but addressing the same scholar base globally.
• Academy of Political Science: U.S.-based political science organization publishing the Political Science Quarterly and administering programs on government and public policy. Overlaps with APSA on membership, journals, and policy-oriented political science engagement.
• Pi Sigma Alpha: National political science honor society for undergraduate and graduate students, with chapter network at U.S. colleges. Complements APSA's mission and overlaps on the student-membership funnel feeding future APSA members.

Broad incumbents

• American Historical Association: Larger, established U.S. humanities professional association serving historians; offers analogous services (journals, annual meeting, job listings) and addresses adjacent academic scholars who occasionally cross over to political science.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/apsatweets
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC2D9f_fgOsq6DfbLzxjr9vw
• Facebookfacebook.com/likeAPSA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-political-science-association/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true
• Instagraminstagram.com/apsanet

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about American Political Science Association