The Association has a Board of Directors and an Executive Committee. Its administrative offices are located in Ottawa and it functions in Canada’s two official languages. If you want to know more about CPSA’s history, read “A century-old association, with a youthful bent”.
Presidents and Presidential Addresses List of CPSA Presidents
The objects of the Association are:
The Association as such, will not assume a position upon any question of public policy not directly related to the discipline of political science or commit its members to any position thereupon.
The main purpose of the CPSA is to facilitate and promote the study of politics and government in Canada. Through varied activities, it seeks to connect students, researchers, journalists, practitioners, teachers and all individuals interested in the discipline to one another and to international resources for the study of politics and government.
The Association holds a large and well-attended annual academic conference within the framework of the Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities1. At this event, top-notch research and learned papers are presented and discussed; national and international high profile keynote speakers are invited; panels are presented, other modes of communication are undertaken and diverse activities and competitions are organized to provide opportunities for enhanced academic engagement. The conference also plays host to a growing teaching, research training and curriculum development focus. In addition to workshops on formal training in advanced research techniques and methodology, the Teaching and Professional Practice Section includes sessions devoted to classroom activities, pedagogical approaches and innovations, and educational assessment.
Through its peer-reviewed quarterly publication, the Canadian Journal of Political Science-Revue canadienne de science politique (CJPS-RCSP), the Association promotes the exchange of views on matters relating to political science and facilitates the growth, expression, and transmission of intellectually rigorous political science knowledge in and about Canada. CJPS’s evidence-based and theoretically informed articles are important tools for teaching in colleges, Cégeps and universities. Book reviews are also a source of information about new directions in the discipline and its diverse sub-fields.
The CPSA has a long-term institutional agreement with the Société québécoise de science politique. Since 1979, both associations conduct numerous joint activities including the production of the CJPS and the organization of public bilingual colloquia and events opened to the community. Together they foster research on and the study of government and politics of/in the francophone political science community in Québec/Canada.
The CPSA sponsors the Parliamentary Internship Programme (PIP) and the Ontario Legislature Internship Programme (OLIP). These non-partisan programmes are independent of the Federal Government/Government of Ontario and of any political party. The PIP is an initiative of the Association that operates on Parliament Hill under the auspices of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Established in 1975, the OLIP is also administered by the CPSA and supported by a financial grant from the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
Students Support and Participation
The Association also organizes the Chairs Meeting, which is an annual gathering of heads of departments of political science across Canada. In this meeting, chairs discuss about issues and trends in higher education; scholarly and administrative duties; teaching, research and service; the use of technology; working with faculty and administration; reviews; mentoring and professional development; and curriculum, teaching and Reconciliation. The CPSA also supports administratively and runs a program of services that keep its 54 affiliated departments of political science across Canada informed of job opportunities and issues of interest to the discipline.
In 2014, the CPSA’s e-newsletter POLCAN2 replaced the long-established POLCAN listserv. Since then, the e-newsletter’s subscribers have increased and its design and content have updated continuously. Today, POLCAN2 has almost 4000 subscribers; it is sent out every Wednesday and open to CPSA members and non-members. It brings postings, job offers and news from the Canadian political science community, an extensive list of departments specialized in different areas of social sciences, and useful information about disciplinary and multidisciplinary events and conferences provided by universities and associations around the world.
Canada’s settler-colonial foundation and the Indian Residential School system have cast a long shadow on the present. In response to the 2015 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which carry implications for teaching and research in political science, the Association’s Board of Directors created the CPSA Reconciliation Committee in 2016. The committee is currently producing an extensive Bibliography on Indigenous Politics in Canada, is developing a list of Resources on Indigenous Politics, and has facilitated the creation of Departmental Reps to help monitor the progress on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls for action.
Also in 2016, the CPSA Board of Directors created a new elected position, the Practitioner Representative, designed to better capture the perspectives of political scientists who do work outside academe. The first Practitioner Representative was elected in 2017.
Affiliations
The Association is a member of the:
It has affiliations and exchange agreements with the:
Through these affiliations, it organizes joint-sections in its annual conference (CAPPA and ISA-Canada); the participation of Canadian political scientists in international conferences through special “CPSA Panels” (APSA and ISA), and promotes the emergence, development, and maintenance of international research groups, networks, partnerships and writing teams. It also contributes to the development of multidisciplinary scholarly projects.
The Association participates in the annual meetings and Biennial IPSA World Congress.
The CPSA is also affiliated with regional organizations:
These affiliations facilitate communications and networking among Canadian faculty, teachers, researchers and students.
Finally, the CPSA has established relations with the Women’s and Gender Studies et Recherches Féministes (WGSRF) and the Canadian Philosophical Association – American Association of University Professors through its Canadian politics section.
Funding
The CPSA is a Registered Canadian Charitable Organization. It is funded in major part by its members’ fees, departmental memberships and by institutional subscriptions to the Canadian Journal of Political Science. It also receives grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for the Journal and the Parliamentary Internship Programme (PIP). The Ontario Legislature Internship Programme (OLIP) receives most of its funding from the Ontario Legislature. Both internship programmes are also funded by private donors.