Since 2000, the French Politics Groups of APSA and PSA have been working in close collaboration, thanks to PSA/APSA financial support and the leadership of Robert Elgie (Dublin City University), Andrew Appleton (Washington State University), and Amy Mazur (Washington State University). The major goal of this collaboration is to strengthen the study of French Politics by bringing together research communities on both sides of the Atlantic.

The PSA-French Politics group offers an important arena for French Politics experts from across Europe to present and discuss their research, particularly given the importance of the study of French Politics in the European context. The link between the PSA French Politics Group and the French Politics Group of APSA (FPG-APSA) has been a driving force in the re-invigoration of FPG-APSA. Since 2000, FGP-APSA has re-organized by placing the study of French Politics in a comparative perspective. This reorganization has attracted a new audience to the group's panels and activities. It currently has 100 members (non-paying) and has co-sponsored/sponsored on average three panels each year, including two roundtables commemorating leading figures in the study of French politics Frank L. Wilson and Roy Pierce, in 2003 and 2004. In addition, the FPG-APSA has been working with the APSA European Politics organized section to participate in its federated structure, whereby European country specific related groups co-sponsor panels with EPS. The group now presents two Awards—the Frank L. Wilson Best Paper Award and the George Lavau Best Dissertation Award—and distributes a semi-annual newsletter to its members. A homepage will be launched this fall.

The first collaboration between the two French Politics Groups began in 2000. PSA provided funds for two of its members to present papers on a French Politics panel at the APSA Annual Meeting. In 2004–2005, the PSA-APSA collaboration reached a new institutionalized level with travel support provided by each Association for their members to present research papers at the other's Annual Meeting. The PSA and the French Politics Group of the PSA covered the travel expenses for Andrew Appleton and Amy Mazur to present papers on two different French Politics panels at the PSA Annual Meetings in April in Lincoln, UK—and APSA awarded a foreign scholar travel grant to Jocelyn Evans (University of Salford) to present a paper on a French Politics panel at this year's APSA Annual Meeting in Chicago. In addition, the UK group has also provided an extensive reading list on French Politics to members of APSA-FPG. Future collaborative plans for the APSA Annual Meeting in 2005 include a joint short course on teaching French Politics, the organization of two panels, and co-sponsorship, with the French consulate and the Journal of French Politics, of a reception. In addition, the groups will work together to increase the number of nominations from Europe and the U.S. for the APSA-based Best Dissertation on French Politics Award and will continue to produce joint newsletters.

For a full listing of the French politics panels at the PSA Lincoln meetings, see http://www.psa.ac.uk and for this year's French Politics panels at the APSA Annual Meeting see, http://apsanet.org/mtgs/program/relgroups.cfm. For more information on the UK group, contact Robert Elgie at robert.elgie@dcu.ie or go to http://webpages.dcu.ie/~elgier/psagroup.htm. For information about the U.S. group, contact Amy Mazur at mazur@mail.wsu.edu.

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