The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) was founded in 1889 to promote progress in the social sciences. Sparked by Professor Edmund J. JamesFalkner, Roland P. (1896) "Editorial" Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 7: pp. 74–77 and drawing from members of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College, and Bryn Mawr College, the academy sought to establish communication between scientific thought and practical effort. The goal of its founders was to foster, across disciplines, important questions in the realm of social sciences, and to promote the work of those whose research aimed to address important social problems. Today the AAPSS is headquartered at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and aims to offer interdisciplinary perspectives on important social issues.

Establishment The primary modes of the academy's communication were to be the bimonthly journal, The Annals,Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science ISSN 0002-7162 annual meetings, symposia, and special publications. Difficult topics were not avoided. The 1901 annual meeting was on race relations in America, and included a paper by Booker T. Washington.Lindsay, Samuel McCune (1901) "Report of the Academy Committee on Meetings. Fifth Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Philadelphia, April 12 and 13, 1901" Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 18: pp. 181–187 The academy began as a membership organization. Membership was open and inclusive with an emphasis on educated professionals; even from its establishment, women were permitted to obtain membership. The academy's members have included not only academicians, but also distinguished public servants such as Herbert Hoover and Frances Perkins. Perhaps for this reason, it is not a member of the American Council of Learned Societies."ACLS Constituent Learned Societies" American Council of Learned Societies

In 2000 the academy began selecting and installing Fellows in recognition of social scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the field.Pearson, Robert W. (2003) "A New Look at The American Academy of Political and Social Science" Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 585(Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century): pp. 6–7, p.7 Since 2008 the academy has presented an annual Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize to recognize public officials and/or scholars who have used social science and informed judgment to advance the public good. The academy continues to publish its bimonthly journal, and holds congressional briefings, special conferences, and biannual meetings of its board of directors. The academy has moved away from the membership model, however.

Presidents of the Academy

1889–1895 – Edmund J. James 1896–1900 – Roland P. Falkner (acting in the absence of Edmund J. James) 1900–1902 – Samuel McCune Lindsay 1902–1929 – Leo S. Rowe 1930–1952 – Ernest M. Patterson 1953–1970 – James C. Charlesworth 1970–1972 – Richard D. Lambert 1972–1998 – Marvin E. Wolfgang 1998–1999 – Kathleen Hall Jamieson 1999–2001 – Jaroslav Pelikan 2001–2005 – Lawrence W. Sherman 2006–2015 – Douglas S. Massey 2015–2021 – Kenneth Prewitt 2021–present Marta Tienda

Publications The Annals

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science is a policy and scientific journal in political and social science. It began publication in July 1890 and has continued uninterrupted up until the present."Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science," in International Magazine Co., Periodicals, vol. 1, no. 1 (October–December 1917), pg. 5. The journal began as a quarterly but switched to a bi-monthly schedule effective with volume 2 in the summer of 1891. From 1897 (volume 6), volume numbers began to be changed every three issues, with each single issue after volume 38 constituting its own volume. A number of pamphlet supplements were also issued during the journal's early years.

Recent authors and editors in The Annals have included Henry Louis Gates Jr., Richard A. Clarke, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., and William Julius Wilson. The Annals has been published by SAGE Publications since 1981. In 2003, it changed from its traditional plain orange cover to a more graphic cover containing photographs.

The Annals has covered topics including "The World's Food" (November 1917) to "The Motion Picture and its Economic and Social Aspects" (November 1926), "Women in the Modern World" (May 1929), "America and Japan" (May 1941), "Urban Renewal Goals and Standards" (March 1964), and "The Global Refugee Problem" (May 1982). More recent volumes have focused on such topics as "Confronting the Specter of Nuclear Terrorism" and "The Moynihan Report Revisited: Lessons and Reflections after Four Decades".

According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2017 impact factor of 2.401, ranking it 33rd out of 169 journals in the category "Political Science" and 11th out of 94 journals in the category "Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary".

Editors

1890–1895 Edmund J. James 1896–1900 Roland P. Falkner January 1901 – March 1902 Henry Rogers Seager May 1902 – September 1914 Emory R. Johnson November 1914 – July 1929 Clyde L. King September 1929 – July 1968 Thorsten Sellin January 1969 – November 1995 Richard D. Lambert January 1996 – November 2003 Alan W. Heston January 2003 – May 2006 Robert W. Pearson July 2006 – December 2010 Phyllis Kaniss December 2010 – December 2011 Emily Wood December 2011 – present Thomas A. Kecskemethy

The Academy Online In 2006, the academy created a blog to take advantage of the Internet to provide a forum for ideas and research in the social sciences. Today, the academy's website is the main source for news of the academy, recently published Annals volumes, and information about the Fellows and Moynihan Prize.

Moynihan Prize Winners 2008 – Alice M. Rivlin 2009 – David T. Ellwood 2010 – Robert Greenstein 2011 – Diane Ravitch 2012 – Paul Volcker 2013 – William Julius Wilson 2014 – Joseph Stiglitz 2015 – Rebecca Blank 2016 – Isabel Sawhill and Ron Haskins 2017 – Alan Krueger 2018 – John Holdren 2019 – Samantha Power 2020 – William Nordhaus 2022 – Marian Wright Edelman

See also The American Academy of Political and Social Science is not to be confused with the following entities: Academy of Political Science American Academy of Arts and Letters American Academy of Arts and Sciences American Association for the Advancement of Science American Political Science Association American Social Science Association United States National Academy of Sciences

Notes

External links

American Academy of Political and Social Science official website