Dr. Charles A. Stevenson, Johns Hopkins University
APSA member since 1965
Dr. Stevenson was born in Denver, Colorado. He received an AB from Harvard, MA from the Fletcher School at Tufts, and PhD from Harvard. He served as a Senate staffer on defense and foreign policy for 22 years, then became a professor of national security strategy at the National War College. During a sabbatical year, he served on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff. Since 2002, he has been teaching courses on American foreign policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Among his books are: America’s Foreign Policy Toolkit: Key Institutions and Processes (CQ Press, 2013); Congress at War: The Politics of Conflict since 1789 (Potomac Books, 2007); Warriors & Politicians: U.S. Civil-Military Relations under Stress (Routledge, 2006); and SecDef: the nearly impossible job of Secretary of Defense (Potomac Books, 2006). He also is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
How did you learn about APSA? When did you become a member of APSA, and what prompted you to join?
I learned about APSA when I was in graduate school and joined then in order to attend the conventions.
How have APSA membership and services been valuable to you?
While I was still working in the Senate, APSA provided me with information through its publications and opportunities at its conventions to remain engaged with academia. Since I left the Hill, APSA has served me as a venue for collaboration with other political scientists.
Can you tell us about your professional background and your research?
My Harvard dissertation was on US policy toward Laos. I chose the topic in order to learn more about Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war, but with material that would not be politicized. Once I was working on defense and foreign policy in the Senate, I saw much of my daily work through the prism of political science and wanted to share my insights with other academics. I have specialized in use of force policy in Congress and the Executive Branch. I was exposed to civil-military relations issues while in the Senate and at the National War College. Nowadays I focus on case studies of US national security policy with a bureaucratic politics perspective.
Can you tell us about your experience teaching APSA CFP fellows throughout the years?
Since 2002 I have been privileged to work with APSA Congressional Fellows, both during their orientation and in a special class. Each year, about half a dozen Fellows, including Federal Executive Fellows already working in the government, take my SAIS course on Congress and Foreign Policy. It’s exciting for me, and I think for most of the students, to have this exchange between younger scholars and older, experienced professionals. We keep learning from each other.
The APSA Member Spotlight Program features one member each quarter in the APSA Member Magazine, Political Science Today. Nominations for the award (including self-nominations) may be submitted by members and nonmembers of APSA. Learn more here.
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