Western Political Science Association

Name

Western Political Science Association

Legal name

Western Political Science Association

Website

https://wpsanet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Professional Association

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Professional Organizations (81392), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Academic & Scientific Conferences (MPAGAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK), Education, Research & Academic Congresses (THAHAJAD)

Keywords

• Scholarly association services
• Academic conference hosting
• Peer-reviewed journals
• Political science networking
• Professional development programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership dues provide core revenue, with members receiving subscriptions to Political Research Quarterly and Politics, Groups, and Identities journals, discounted conference registration, and access to Virtual Communities.
2. Conference Registration Fees: Annual conference registration fees from over 1000+ participants attending panels, workshops, and networking events. Attendees include presenters, chairs, discussants, and guests.
3. Journal Publications: Revenue from journal publishing including Political Research Quarterly and Politics, Groups, and Identities. Full members receive direct access through personal home pages.
4. Exhibitor and Advertising Revenue: Revenue from exhibitor table sales, advertising in convention programs, and book display fees at annual conferences. Publishers and academic organizations purchase exhibit space.
5. Sponsorship: Corporate and institutional sponsorships for conference events, workshops, awards ceremonies, and special events. Sponsors recognized in programs and on webpage.
6. Donations: Tax-deductible donations to various endowment funds supporting travel awards, special awards, and general operations. WPSA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

WPSA is a non-profit professional association that organizes an annual conference for political scientists, sponsors two peer-reviewed journals (Political Research Quarterly and Politics, Groups, and Identities), runs 10+ virtual scholarly communities, and administers awards and travel grant programs for faculty and students in political science across 19 western U.S. states and territories.

Product overview

The Western Political Science Association (WPSA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional organization, not a technology product company. WPSA offers a portfolio of scholarly services including two peer-reviewed journals (Political Research Quarterly and Politics, Groups, and Identities), an official newsletter (The Western), an annual conference, fourteen award categories, and ten virtual communities for professional development. The core offerings center on fostering scholarly exchange and professional networking in political science rather than technology products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Political Research Quarterly (PRQ): Peer-reviewed journal publishing original research on all aspects of politics, one of the leading generalist journals of political science.
• Politics, Groups, and Identities (PGI)
• The Western Newsletter

Products and services

• Political Research Quarterly (PRQ) A peer-reviewed academic journal in political science published by SAGE on behalf of WPSA, targeting political science faculty, researchers, and graduate students seeking to publish and read regional and broader political science scholarship.
• Politics, Groups, and Identities (PGI) A peer-reviewed academic journal in political science published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of WPSA, covering scholarship related to politics, social groups, and identities, for political science faculty, researchers, and graduate students.
• WPSA Annual Conference The Association's annual scholarly conference drawing more than 1,200 political scientists from across the western U.S. for paper presentations, panels, and networking.
• The Western Newsletter The Association's newsletter providing members with news, announcements, and updates about WPSA activities and the political science profession.
• WPSA Virtual Communities Zoom-based virtual scholarly communities covering more than 10 political science subfields, providing ongoing collaboration and discussion spaces for members between annual conferences.

Quantifiable outcome

• 946 proposals submitted to annual conference
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Chapman UniversityminorOthersInstitutional supporter of the WPSA 2026 annual meeting in San Diego. Provides financial support for conference activities.
• Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Brigham Young UniversityminorOthersCo-sponsor of the Charles Redd Award for Best Paper on the Politics of the American West. Joint award program recognizing scholarship on western American politics.
• Pi Sigma AlphaminorOthersNational Political Science Honor Society sponsors undergraduate poster session and provides funds for two $250 travel awards for undergraduate students.
• The Scholar's ChoiceminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorManages the combined book exhibit for WPSA annual conferences. Publishers and authors can have books displayed through this arrangement.
• Alaska AirlinesminorOthersProvides 7% discount off lowest published fares for WPSA conference attendees traveling to Denver for the 2027 annual meeting.
• Manchester Grand Hyatt San DiegominorOthersConference hotel venue for WPSA 2026 annual meeting in San Diego, California.
• Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention CenterminorOthersConference hotel venue for WPSA 2027 annual meeting in Denver, Colorado.
• SAGE PublishingcoreTechnology or IntegrationPublisher of Political Research Quarterly journal. SAGE provides online platform access for PRQ journal to WPSA members.
• Taylor & FranciscoreTechnology or IntegrationPublisher of Politics, Groups, and Identities journal. Taylor & Francis provides online platform access for PGI journal to WPSA members.
• MemberClickscoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides membership management platform for WPSA including online membership registration, renewal, conference registration, and proposal submission functionality.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Southwestern Political Science Association (SWPSA): Smaller regional political science association with annual conference and journal (Social Science Quarterly published historically with SWPSA). Closely comparable regional peer.
• Southern Political Science Association (SPSA): Regional political science association for the southern U.S., publishing the Journal of Politics and operating an annual convention. SPSA is a directly comparable peer in mission, scale, and revenue model to WPSA.
• Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA): Regional political science association serving the Midwest with an analogous model of annual conference, journals, and member services. MPSA is the most structurally comparable peer — same product mix, same scale, different region.
• Northeastern Political Science Association (NPSA): Regional political science association publishing Politics & Gender and other journals with annual conferences. NPSA mirrors WPSA's structure with a regional membership base and similar service portfolio.

Others

• MemberClicks: Membership management platform that powers WPSA's registration, dues, and proposal submissions. MemberClicks is a vendor/technology partner enabling WPSA's self-serve operations.
• SAGE Publishing: Publisher of WPSA's flagship journal Political Research Quarterly. SAGE is a technology/integration partner that distributes WPSA's scholarly content to institutions worldwide.
• Pi Sigma Alpha: National political science honor society that co-sponsors undergraduate poster sessions and travel awards at WPSA's conference. Functions as a partner and ecosystem participant, not a direct competitor.
• Taylor & Francis: Publisher of WPSA's Politics, Groups, and Identities journal. Taylor & Francis is a distribution partner and analogous to SAGE in role.

Broad incumbents

• American Sociological Association: National social science association with multiple journals, annual meeting, and member services. Comparable as a discipline-adjacent nonprofit association but at national scale, illustrating the structural model for an expanded WPSA.
• American Political Science Association (APSA): The national professional association for political scientists. APSA is the dominant incumbent in the same discipline WPSA serves, operating at national scale with overlapping journals (American Political Science Review), annual meetings, and membership services, but without WPSA's regional focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/theWPSA
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=100057608372940
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/groups/6550978
• Instagraminstagram.com/thewpsa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Western Political Science Association