Building Bridges across the Pond

Wyn Grant, Political Studies Association

When I began my three-year term as PSA chair (the equivalent of APSA president) in 2005, one of my stated priorities was to build a closer relationship with APSA. Not only are most of the world's political scientists located in the United States, but many of their British equivalents are members of APSA and attend the organisation's Annual Meeting. Indeed, PSA provides funding to help its members attend and nominates an annual panel in conjunction with APSA. Yet relationships between the two organisations had been relatively ad hoc and fragmentary. Fortunately, our prioritization of this issue coincided with APSA's recent emphasis on extending, renewing, and enhancing its international outreach. Hence, it has been possible to build an effective working relationship, even though APSA is a much larger and better-funded organization.

Membership of the PSA has increased substantially in recent years. At the end of 1998, PSA had 876 members; by the end of 2005, PSA had 1,554 members. The PSA, a registered charity, operates on an annual budget of a little under $730,000, of which just over 60% comes from Blackwell Publishing, the publisher of its four journals. The organisation operates from an office of the University of Newcastle in the northeast of England and has two full-time staff plus part-timers and consultants. In addition to its work as a publisher of scholarly journals, the PSA presents an Awards Ceremony honouring political practitioners. Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was honoured as Politician of the Year at this year's Award Ceremony; he used the occasion to make a major speech on Britishness.

PSA's relationship with the APSA developed over a series of discussions at the APSA Annual Meeting. Michael Brintnall, executive director of APSA, and Bahram Rajaee, international and external relations director of APSA, organised and attended these meetings. The meetings helped identify areas where the two associations could work more closely together. In recognition of our closer relationship, PSA, with the support of Blackwell Publishing, co-sponsored the main reception at APSA's centennial conference in Chicago in August 2004. PSA has displayed its publications and literature in the Annual Meeting's book exhibit each year and we know from the comments of individual APSA members that our presence is appreciated.

Michael Brintnall attended the PSA annual conference at Leicester in 2003 and Bahram Rajaee came to the annual conference in Lincoln in 2004. Both visits furthered the informal exchange of ideas. At the Leeds conference in 2005, APSA President Margaret Levi gave a plenary address and participated in a round table presenting the APSA task force report on American Democracy in an Age of Rising Inequality. We also discussed areas for future cooperation, including drawing on APSA's experience in fostering equal opportunities and diversity within the professional organization, an area where there is much for us to do.

Top photo: (L to R) Neil Collins, University College, Cork; Bahram Rajaee, APSA; Margaret Levi, APSA; Alex Wadan, University of Sunderland. Bottom photo: (L to R) PSA Chair Wyn Grant, University of Warwick; APSA President Maragaret Levi, University of Washington.

APSA Establishes Targeted International Membership Rate

On April 9, the APSA Council voted to approve a new membership rate for scholars residing outside high-income societies. The new rate reflects the Council's continuing support for the Committee on International Political Science's recommendations for internationalizing the Association. The new annual rate of $40 will be in effect for a period of three years, after which the rate will be reevaluated by the Committee. Individual political scientists in eligible countries can take advantage of the new membership category, which entails full APSA membership.

The aim of the new membership rate is to provide scholars located in resource-constrained parts of the world with the opportunity to benefit from APSA membership. Currently, the lowest APSA membership rate for individuals is $78 (plus $15 postage). Membership through this new targeted category is restricted to scholars from all but the highest-income countries; scholars who are citizens of or working in the following countries classified as high-income by the World Bank will not be eligible for the new rate:

For comments or more information contact Bahram Rajaee, APSA director of international and external relations (brajaee@apsanet.org), or visit www.apsanet.org.

Margaret Levi Leads APSA Visit With Indian Political Scientists

Following an APSA policy commitment to strengthening cross-national partnerships, and to broaden these partnerships beyond so-called high income countries, Margaret Levi and Ashutosh Varshney, chair of APSA's International Committee, met in India in April with leading Indian political scholars. The primary purpose of the visit was to explore possibilities of cross-border scholarly interaction and exchanges.

The meetings were organized around four clusters of scholars (10–15 per cluster) discussing themes of democracy, governance, security, and political theory. Each cluster made a presentation about the state of Indian political science research as related to that cluster's theme, followed by an exploration of the possibilities of mutually beneficial interaction between American and Indian political scientists. Levi also gave two public addresses, the first on the presidency of George W. Bush, and the second on Outsourcing, Homesourcing, and American Labor Politics.

In recognition of APSA's drive to increase international membership in non-OECD countries, Levi and Varshney introduced a new discounted membership rate for targeted international members, as recommended by the International Committee.

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