The Caucus for a New Political Science (CNPS) was first founded in 1967 as a caucus, and then a formal section, within the American Political Science Association (APSA). APSA is the official professional organization of political scientists in the United States, with over 15,000 members worldwide.[1] CNPS’ membership rolls at present indicate between 425 and 475 members.[2] The CNPS emerged to challenge the principle of neutrality contained in the APSA by-laws and to encourage political activism among those in the profession. Critics and supporters have characterized the mission of the CNPS as explicitly political and left in its orientation. Critics have charged that CNPS was responsible for negatively affecting the APSA in 1968 and 1969 with the challenge to association's commitment to political neutrality on public issues of the day.[3] It is generally observed that CNPS was the first section of its kind within APSA and opened the door for the formal recognition by APSA of a variety of sections dedicated to more explicitly engaged scholarship.[4] Among those groups and caucuses that subsequently sought and gained formal section recognition within APSA are: Women & Politics; Race & Ethnicity; Sexuality and Politics as well as affiliated groups such as the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, and Transgender group and The Labor Project.[5]
The official mission of CNPS is “to make the study of politics relevant to the struggle for a better world.” (apsa website) In 1971, the group incorporated as the Caucus for a New Political Science (CNPS) as a non-profit educational organization. The group's official name within APSA is “New Political Science”. The non-profit entity owns and operates the peer-reviewed journal New Political Science: a journal of politics and culture, published by the Taylor & Francis Group.
The non-profit also sponsors public addresses by prominent progressive public intellectuals including Barbara Ehrenreich, Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Frances Fox Piven, Lani Guinier, John Conyers, Barney Frank, Rashid Khalidi, former AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, and Michael Parenti. The CNPS has also issued political positions outside of APSA as a signatory on several national campaigns defending intellectuals and artists experiencing public criticism and controversy such as Tony Kushner, Rashid Khalidi and Frances Fox Piven.