The Academy of Political Science is an American
non-profit organization and publisher devoted
to cultivating non-partisan, objective analysis
of political, social, and economic issues.
It is headquartered in The Interchurch Center
in New York City.
Its current President is Robert Y. Shapiro.
== History ==
Columbia University founded the Academy of
Political Science in 1880 to foster cooperation
between Columbia University Law School and
the Columbia University Graduate School of
Political Science.
In 1886 the Academy of Political Science began
publishing the Political Science Quarterly.In
1910 the Academy of Political Science incorporated
in New York State as a non-profit organization
with open membership to all who would pay
dues and it enjoyed the financial support
from private foundations.Half a century ago,
the Academy was one of only a handful of organizations
that could be relied upon to produce non-partisan,
analytical studies.
The Brookings Institution was another one.
The Academy also had annual dinners which
were newsworthy events that were attended
by important politicians, diplomats, scholars,
and intellectuals.
In 1921, President Warren G. Harding spoke
to 1,400 men and women at a luncheon of the
Academy of Political Science in the Hotel
Astor declaring his intention for a drastic
reorganization of government and radical cutting
of expenditures asserting that Federal, State
and municipal Governments had been "spending
without a thought of the morrow".
In 1932, Walter Lippmann spoke at the Academy's
annual dinner about liberalism.
"The great concern of the liberal spirit"
he told the guests, "rests at last upon the
conviction that at almost any cost men must
keep open the channels of understanding and
preserve unclouded, lucid and serene their
perceptiveness of truth."
In 1940, then-Secretary of State Henry L.
Stimson used the Academy's annual dinner to
deliver an important pro-preparedness, pro-helping
Britain speech.
In 1946, then-Secretary of State George C.
Marshall delivered a major dinner speech,
also widely covered by the press, in favor
of the Marshall Plan of aid to Western Europe.
Vice-President Richard Nixon also attended
the Academy's annual dinner in 1959.The Academy's
history of public service includes meetings
and conferences where its members can attend
presentations by scholars on single issues
and participate in their discussions.
These conferences also draw upon public officials
involved in the particular subject matter.
In 1917, in co-operation with the American
Society of International Law, the Academy
of Political Science organized the National
Conference on the Foreign Relations of the
United States.
It was, tells the New York Times, "the most
notable unofficial gathering of authorities
on international law and trade, diplomats,
statesmen, journalists, publicists, and politicians
ever held in this country".
A 1932 conference held by the Academy brought
together distinguished economists, bankers
and industrialists to discuss "Steps Toward
Recovery".More recently, the Academy has cosponsored
conferences with other distinguished institutions
and organizations such as Homes for the Homeless,
American Hellenic Institute Foundation, Presidency
Research Group of the American Political Science
Association, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of
Law, The Cooper Union, Community Service Society
of New York, and The Italian Academy for Advanced
Studies in America.
== Mission ==
The Academy has a three-fold educational mission
to:
contribute to the scholarly examination of
political institutions, processes, and public
policies;
enrich political discourse and channel the
best social science research in an understandable
way to political leaders for use in public
policy making and the process of governing;
educate members of the general public so that
they become better informed participants in
the democratic process.The major vehicles
for accomplishing these goals are primarily
the Academy's journal, Political Science Quarterly,
published since 1886, as well as Academy conferences,
books, and other publications.
== Board of directors ==
The Academy's Board of Directors is composed
of scholars and academic administrators as
well as members of the legal, business, and
not-for-profit sectors who are dedicated to
the Academy's educational mission.
Current honorary members include former US
president Jimmy Carter, former Secretaries
of State George P. Shultz and Madeleine Albright,
former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates,
former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft,
and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor
