Meet The New Council Members: Martha Finnemore

Martha FinnemoreMartha Finnemore is University Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, DC.  Her research focuses on global governance, international organizations, ethics, and social theory.  She is the co-author (with Michael Barnett) of Rules for the World: International Organizations in Global Politics, which won the International Studies Association’s award for Best Book in 2006.  She is also author of National Interests in International Society and The Purpose of Intervention, which won the American Political Science Association’s Woodrow Wilson Award as “the best book published on government, politics, or international affairs” in 2004.  Her most recent books are Back to Basics: State Power in a Contemporary World (Oxford University Press 2013) and Who Governs the Globe? (Cambridge University Press 2010).  Her articles have appeared in International Organization, World Politics, Annual Review of Political Science, Review of International Studies, Review of International Political Economy, Global Governance, Foreign Affairs and elsewhere.  She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has been a visiting research fellow at the Brookings Institution and Stanford University, and has received fellowships or grants from the MacArthur Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the United States Institute of Peace.

Statement of views: APSA must continue to support its diverse members in their varied scholarly activities, but it must also adapt to some new challenges.   Work conditions for many members are changing, funding sources for scholarship are changing, and scholarly approaches are shifting in ways that require innovation and attention.  In addition to serving our members, I would encourage more public engagement by APSA to bring relevant scholarly work to the attention of citizens, policymakers, and the media in ways that improve public debate on issues of scholarly concern.


The APSA Nominating Committee met on February 13, 2015, and nominated the slate of officers and council members to serve beginning in fall 2015. The call for nominations was circulated widely among the membership with outreach to APSA committees and organized sections. The nominating committee made its decisions after careful deliberation and due consideration for the diversity of the field and the varied interests of political scientists. There were no additional nominees from the members, and council members and officers were approved in October 2015 by the APSA Council, under its power to fill interim vacancies (APSA Constitution, Article V). APSA welcomes the new council members and other officers to APSA leadership.