What MPSA - Midwest Political Science Association does

The Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), founded in 1939, is a nonprofit professional association headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, that serves the political science academic community. Its operations are run by a 16-person staff and organized around two flagship offerings: the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS), one of the top-ranked political science journals published through Wiley, and the Annual MPSA Conference, a hybrid-format event held at Palmer House Hilton in Chicago that historically draws 4,000+ attendees from over 60 countries across 1,000+ panels and 80+ sections. The association also operates scholarships, research awards, a mentoring program, a job board, professional development roundtables, Working Groups, a Conference Paper Repository, and an MPSA Bookshelf. Membership is community-led, with categories for faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, post-docs, and policy practitioners, and the organization is governed by an elected council and member-volunteer committees.

MPSA operates a multi-stream revenue model that includes conference registration fees (tiered by member/non-member, in-hotel/out-hotel, and early/regular/on-site rates), annual membership dues, exhibitor and sponsor fees at the conference, and tax-deductible donations that fund scholarships and awards. Non-member conference registrants receive a complimentary one year electronic MPSA membership, linking conference acquisition to membership conversion. The GTM motion is community-led: the organization recruits and retains members through the conference, AJPS access, professional development, awards, mentoring, and career resources, with the website (mpsanet.org) and email newsletters as the primary digital channels. Strategic partnerships with Wiley (AJPS publishing), APSA, IPSA, SPSA, NSF, ICPSR, and IIE-SRF extend the organization's reach and convening credibility, while exhibitor relationships with university presses (Cambridge, Oxford, Palgrave, De Gruyter, Springer Nature, Polity, University of Chicago/Michigan/Oklahoma) reflect the conference's commercial pull.

Name

MPSA - Midwest Political Science Association

Legal name

Midwest Political Science Association

Website

https://mpsanet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1939

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MPSA is a 1939-founded nonprofit professional association that serves political scientists through the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS) and a 4,000+ attendee annual conference, with a 16-person staff delivering membership, publishing, and professional development programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Professional Association Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Education, Research & Academic Congresses (THAHAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Government, Public Policy & Regulatory Congresses (THAHAJAF)

Keywords

• Academic association services
• Political science conferences
• Scholarly journal publishing
• Professional development programs
• Academic conference management

Headquarters

HQ city

Bloomington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Conference Registration Fees: Annual conference generates revenue through registration fees with tiered pricing for members vs. non-members, in-hotel vs. out-hotel, and early vs. regular vs. on-site rates. Non-member rates include one year of complimentary electronic MPSA membership.
2. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees provide access to benefits including electronic AJPS access, newsletters, conference discounts, and other member resources. Multiple membership categories exist.
3. Exhibitor and Sponsor Fees: Revenue generated from exhibiting companies, advertisers, and sponsors at the annual conference through booth rentals, print advertising in the program, and sponsorship opportunities.
4. Donations: Tax-deductible donations support awards for best research at the annual conference and in AJPS, as well as conference scholarships including fee waivers, graduate student travel scholarships, and childcare scholarships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

MPSA is a nonprofit professional association founded in 1939 that organizes a major annual political science conference, publishes the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS), and offers professional development, mentoring, scholarships, and recognition programs for political scientists and students in the discipline.

Product overview

MPSA operates as a professional association offering a unified platform of services centered around its annual conference and journal publication. The core products include the Annual MPSA Conference (a hybrid-format event with over 1,000 panels attracting 4,000+ attendees), the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS), and various professional development offerings including scholarships, research awards, mentoring programs, a job board, and professional development roundtables. The association also hosts Working Groups and Conferences-Within-a-Conference for specialized scholarly collaboration and maintains a Bookshelf for member publications. These offerings are designed to serve the political science academic community through research presentation, professional development, and scholarly networking.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annual MPSA National Conference

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• VerasightminorGTM or Marketing PartnerExhibitor at the MPSA Annual Conference showcasing their products/services to conference attendees
• Palgrave MacmillanminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity press exhibiting at conference, showcasing political science publications
• National Science Foundation (NSF)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerFederal research funding agency exhibiting at conference, supporting political science research community
• ICPSRcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerInter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research exhibiting at conference, providing data resources to political scientists
• NORCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerResearch organization exhibiting at conference, showcasing public opinion and data research services
• University of Chicago PressminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity press exhibiting at conference showcasing academic publications
• University of Michigan PressminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity press exhibiting at conference showcasing academic publications
• University of Oklahoma PressminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity press exhibiting at conference showcasing political science publications
• WileycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPublisher of the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS), MPSA's flagship journal, exhibiting at conference
• Springer NatureminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAcademic publisher exhibiting at conference showcasing political science journals and books
• Cambridge University PressminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUniversity press exhibiting at conference showcasing political science publications
• De GruyterminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAcademic publisher exhibiting at conference showcasing journals and books
• PolityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBook publisher exhibiting at conference, specializing in political science titles
• IPSA (International Political Science Association)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerInternational political science association exhibiting at conference, representing global PS community
• APSA (American Political Science Association)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerNational political science association exhibiting at conference, representing US PS community
• SPSA (Southern Political Science Association)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerRegional political science association exhibiting at conference
• Wiki EducationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEducational organization exhibiting at conference with Wikipedia partnership programs
• Pi Sigma AlphaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPolitical science honor society sponsoring graduate student travel scholarship ($500) at conference
• Braver AngelsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCivic organization exhibiting at conference focusing on depolarization and civil discourse
• IIE-SRF (Institute of International Education Scholar Rescue Fund)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide complimentary membership and conference fee waivers to threatened or displaced scholars through the IIE-SRF program

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• International Political Science Association (IPSA): The global umbrella organization for political science, with a worldwide membership and the International Political Science Review. Operates at a broader international scope than MPSA but serves the same professional community and is already an MPSA exhibitor/partner.
• European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR): A major European academic organization for political scientists running multiple conferences, schools, and journals. Comparable to MPSA in mission (advancing political science scholarship) but at a broader European scale and with a more decentralized event model.
• American Economic Association (AEA): A much larger social science professional association with parallel structure (annual meeting, top-tier journals like the American Economic Review, membership model). Useful benchmark for how a mature academic association scales publications, conferences, and member services.
• American Sociological Association (ASA): A large social science professional association running an annual meeting and multiple journals, serving a parallel academic discipline with a similar membership/conference/publication model to MPSA's.

Direct peers

• American Political Science Association (APSA): The flagship national professional association for political scientists in the U.S. APSA runs the largest political science annual meeting and publishes multiple top-ranked journals, directly competing with MPSA for the same member base, conference attendance, and journal prestige.
• Western Political Science Association (WPSA): A regional political science association covering the U.S. West, structured nearly identically to MPSA with its own annual conference and affiliated journal. Operates the same membership/conference/journal model in a different U.S. region.
• Northeastern Political Science Association (NPSA): Regional political science association serving the U.S. Northeast, with an annual conference and Polity journal. Closely comparable to MPSA in size, structure, and the regional-association niche within the political science ecosystem.
• Southern Political Science Association (SPSA): A regional U.S. political science association serving the South, with an annual conference and the Journal of Politics. Direct structural peer to MPSA operating in a different U.S. region with similar membership and conference economics.

Others

• Wiley (publisher): Publisher of the American Journal of Political Science and a core strategic partner of MPSA. Relevant as the infrastructure/ecosystem peer enabling journal distribution and the publisher relationship that materially affects MPSA's revenue and brand reach.
• Cambridge University Press: A leading academic publisher that exhibits at the MPSA conference and publishes multiple political science journals. Comparable as an ecosystem enabler whose publishing decisions and open-access policies affect the broader environment in which MPSA operates AJPS.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/midwest-political-science-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about MPSA - Midwest Political Science Association