Academy of Political Science - History

History

Columbia University originally 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 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". 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.