When we published the PSA’s Strategic Plan for 2025-28, I was clear that this tome wouldn’t gather dust. In fact, the reverse has happened! My sense is that the process of the PSA’s trustees and staff setting a direction of travel has made us a more confident association and has been the catalyst for some very positive developments. I am sharing here my reflections on the ‘headlines’ and some of the wonderful things members have told us over the last year about being part of the PSA.
“The PSA provides an academic and professional community, a home from home, where members can gain a sense of belonging and can make connections and friendships that last a lifetime.”
PSA Trustee, Professor Georgina Blakeley
So, what have we achieved over the last year?
We set out to concentrate on a few immediate priorities. Clearly and at the top of this list, we cannot function as an association without the resources to do so. Therefore securing our income for the next five years through a new publishing agreement with SAGE Publishing was a significant achievement. This came into force on 1 January 2026 and as well as bringing an array of new benefits for our members this agreement also ensures a critically important space for high quality and impactful Political Studies academic publishing. We are grateful to the brilliant editorial teams of our four journals for their continued service and excellence.
Another milestone in being an effective advocate of our discipline was publishing an analysis of the health of Politics and International Relations in higher education in January 2025 which we achieved through a partnership with the British Academy and other stakeholders. We also see this as an especially useful resource for university heads of department and school as it sets out our disciplinary strengths and the make-up of academic teams and students.
As earmarked in this strategic plan, the PSA has been able to represent its members by being in close contact with the movers and shakers on the Research Excellence Framework 2029 (REF 2029) and the Unit of Assessment 19 sub-panel, alongside BISA. The PSA will be making further input on criteria selection et al over the spring to bolster this process for our discipline further.
“The Political Studies Association is doing a great deal of very valuable work in representing the profession in the whole range of bureaucratic, policy initiatives that are coming out of government, and coming out of universities in the UK.”
PSA Founding Fellow, Professor Sir John Curtice FPSA
The PSA makes a further contribution to research excellence and culture through its family of 48 specialist groups – who have had another lively year supporting a community of around 8000 scholars and holding numerous and wide-ranging events. They are the beating heart of our association and we thank the hundreds of conveners for their dedication and support. I am thrilled that the association has supported 11 new Excellence & Impact Fund projects and look forward to seeing what the groups achieve on these over the next year.
“The Women in Politics Specialist group, from the get-go, was a home, a community of huge amounts of support both intellectual, professional and personal, and there were lots of role models. The specialist groups are really important, [they] have been a fantastic achievement of the PSA.”
PSA Founding Fellow, Professor Fiona Mackay FPSA
In 2025 we completed a second round of our Diverse Voices programme for historically marginalised PhD students. They were a joy to work with and I’m looking forward to seeing them go on to great things including as part of the Early Career Network. This was steered by members of the PSA’s EDI working group who also supported the Women & Politics Specialist Group pilot work in support of mid-career scholars in January 2025.
“The Diverse Voices programme has been both inspiring and empowering. It provided a safe space to engage with people from different backgrounds, share perspectives, and challenge my own assumptions. I’ve come away with new ideas, stronger communication skills and I’ve seen a significant difference in the development of my research since starting the programme.”
PSA Diverse Voices Scholar 2025
The diversity of our association and its confidence was fully on display at our PSA25 annual conference in Birmingham. This was even more special as we celebrated our 75th year with students and colleagues young and old rubbing shoulders and exchanging ideas and memories. To mark the occasion we announced 12 Founding Fellows to recognise and harness some of the most experienced and esteemed members of our community. Other anniversary activities included collating and reflecting on the 75 most cited PSA journal articles which you can read about here.
“The PSA conference is one of the best conferences I have ever attended – excellent organisation, high quality presentations, and discussions. I am looking forward to the next one!”
PSA25 Delegate
Alongside supporting the association to deliver all of the above, the PSA staff team have been beavering away behind the scenes to launch a new website and database. As you will appreciate this is a challenging task but we were pleased to see phase one of this digital development work being launched over Xmas. I am very proud of how the team has kept all cogs in motion, and we are very fortunate to have such professional and hardworking people dedicated to supporting our members and ensuring the association is as effective and sustainable as possible.
It was apparent that setting out a strategic plan can also tempt fate and inevitably fresh opportunities and new issues have arisen which also needed to be tackled. Alongside BISA and UACES, we have sought to support colleagues at risk of departmental closure and redundancy and also wrote to the minister to express our concern at this trend. We also worked with the Academy of Social Sciences and the British Academy on other public affairs particularly concerning post-16 qualifications, curriculum and pathways. We also thought it prudent to refresh our PSA guide to studying Politics and IR at university to highlight the aspects and benefits of this degree to prospective students which many of you may also find useful.
Perhaps understandably Political Studies teaching and learning also came into the spotlight in 2025. The PSA is well-positioned to help develop scholarship in this area and it’s been pleasing to see this manifest through the work of the Teaching & Learning Network and in our Politics journal in particular.
What will happen in 2026?
The second year of the plan is now underway. This will of course build on our progress during 2025 with advocacy for Political Studies and delivering impact through our journal publishing being continuing priorities. As well as the prospect of bringing our community together in Oxford from 30 March – 1 April 2026 at the PSA26 annual conference, we are hard at work with ongoing digital developments to support our members, specialist groups and events programme. Our refreshed Early Career Network and Teaching and Learning Network also have great programmes in prospect. A review of our membership offerings and categories will also be a priority this year – please take the opportunity to share your views on this.
“I joined PSA in the 3rd Year of my PhD. After attending the ECN pre-conference meeting, I wished I had joined in my first year because I learnt so much that I would have immensely benefited from in the early stages of my PhD. I recommend any interested PhD students to join the PSA ECN in their first year of PhD.”
PSA ECN Member
All of these achievements and developments mark a substantial investment in our association and in the Political Studies discipline. But of course none of this can happen without the committed partnership of members of the PSA community, PSA trustees and PSA staff. Thank you for your continued support and commitment to making and sustaining the PSA as the home of Political Studies.
Author: Michelle Doyle Wildman, Chief Executive of the Political Studies Association
