The American Political Science Association (APSA) Advocacy Program advances the discipline of political science by educating policy makers and the citizenry about political science scholarship and education. We seek to increase federal support for basic and applied political science research and to promote independent peer review. Our activities address funding priorities across the discipline. The APSA is a member of the Consortium of Social Science Associations, the National Humanities Alliance, the Coalition for International Education, and the Coalition for National Science Funding.

• Learn about current legislation impacting the NSF, NEH, and international education. 
• Read APSA’s signed letters and community statements concerning political science funding and advocacy.
• Read APSA’s public statements and letters on issues relevant to the political science discipline, including those pertaining to the rights and freedoms of political scientists and scholars. 

Get Involved

APSA members play a key role in informing policymakers and the public about political science research and education.  APSA provides a variety of resources to assist our members in their outreach activities.

• Are you the recipient of NSF or NEH funding? Let your representatives know! See APSA’s template here. 
• Sign up for action alerts from COSSA and the NHA, and join their annual advocacy days. APSA members receive discounts on registration. Contact advocacy@apsanet.org for more information.  
• Learn other ways to advocate for political science and respond to current action alerts on our Member Action page. 

Latest News

• Congress Finalizes Flat Funding for Title VI and Fulbright-Hays. For the first time in 20 years , Congress finalized the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill before the end of the fiscal year. Title VI and Fulbright-Hays received flat funding from FY18, receiving $65.103 million and $7.061 million respectively. 

• APSA Endorses H.R. 36, Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act of 2019. H.R. 36 was jointly introduced by Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson and Frank Lucas on January 3, 2019. The bipartisan legislation would provide support for research on sexual harassment in the STEM workplace and academic settings. 

• House Appropriations Report Language Highlights Civic Education. The House Appropriations Committee "recognizes the importance of civic education" in its report language providing funding for the Library of Congress (LOC). In the report, the committee "directs the Library of Congress to provide a plan on how the Library of Congress's resources and web presence can be used to expand civic education and civic participation." In particular, the committee encourages the LOC to expand their resources for post-secondary classrooms. 

• House, Senate Approve Increased Funding for NEH. On July 19 and August 1, respectively, the House and Senate passed H.R. 6147, allocating $155 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities. This funding level is a $2 million increase from the 2018 fiscal year.  

• Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Flat Funding for International Education Programs.  On June 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an FY19 funding bill (S.3158) maintaining flat funding for Title VI and Fulbright-Hays, allocating approximately $65.1 million to Title VI and $7.06 million for Fulbright-Hays.  

• Senate Appropriations CJS Bill Includes Increase for NSF Research. On June 14, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies FY19 funding bill (S.3072). The bill includes $8.1 billion for the National Science Foundation overall, a 3.9 percent increase from FY18 funding levels. The bill would allocate $6.6 billion for research and related activities, a 3.5 percent increase from FY18. Notably, the Senate bill provides the Census Bureau with $3.82 billion for FY19. While this number is $21 million higher than the administration’s request, it is nearly $1 billion less than the House’s funding level. 

• House Commerce, Justice, and Science FY19 Appropriations Bill Includes Boost for NSF and Census. On May 8, 2018 The House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) subcommittee released a draft appropriations bill, including funding for the NSF and Census Bureau. The bill includes $8.2 billion for the NSF overall and $6.7 billion for research and related activities, a $408 million and $317 million increase, respectively, over FY18 enacted levels of fundng. The bill also allocates $4.8 billion to the Census Bureau in anticipation of the 2020 Census. 

• FY18 Funding Bill Increases Overall Funding of NSF, NEH. On March 23, 2018 President Trump signed an FY18 omnibus spending bill (H.R. 1625). The bill includes increases in federal funding for programs that support political science research and education. The bill includes approximately $153 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities, a $3 million increase from FY17. The National Science Foundation’s budget was increased overall by nearly 4 percent from FY17, to $7.767 billion. The Department of Education’s Title VI and Fulbright-Hays international education and language programs received flat funding. The administration’s FY18 budget had eliminated funding for the two programs, and the original House appropriations bill eliminated funding for Fulbright-Hays. The appropriations package also includes $2.814 billion for the Census Bureau in anticipation of the 2020 Census, nearly doubling the FY17 funding level of $1.47 billion. The award is $1.13 billion more than the White House’s FY18 request. 

• FY19 Presidential Budget Request Released. The Presidential Budget Request for the 2019 fiscal year maintains essentially flat funding for the National Science Foundation and repeats its recommendation that the federal government end support for the National Endowment for the Humanities, international education programs at the Department of Education, and Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. The FY19 budget request initially proposed a $2.2 billion cut to NSF funding from enacted 2017 levels. However, the cut was negated in an addendum from the Office of Management and Budget that adjusted the proposals in light of the recently passed legislation that raised budget caps.

• Tuition Waivers Tax Rejected, Student Loan Interest Deduction Preserved in Final Tax Bill. On Friday, December 15 the House of Representatives filed the conference report reconciling the House and Senate versions of H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The conference committee rejected the House bill’s provisions that would have treated tuition waivers as taxable income and would have removed the student loan interest deduction.