About the Program
To encourage broad participation in the association, the Midwest Political Science Association is offering a limited number of complimentary two-year electronic memberships to developing nations political science scholars residing and working/attending a university in their home country; this country must qualify as a developing nation (listed below) as defined by the World Bank for the 2025 fiscal year. This program will allow access to MPSA membership benefits including electronic access to the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS), the association’s monthly electronic newsletter, and other member benefits for a period of twenty-four months. Upon being granted a developing nations membership, you will be eligible to apply for a conference fee waiver. More on fee waivers can be found here.
Eligibility Requirements
Eligible:
- You are eligible for a Developing Nation Scholarship if you are currently residing and working/attending a university in your home country that falls within the Developing Nation list below.
Ineligible:
- Scholars originally from the developing world who are:
- Current faculty or graduate student in a developed world (such as the US)
- Living in a developed world for any other reason (family attending college, etc)
- Scholars from the developed world who are temporarily located in one of the developing countries such as Fulbright Scholars.
- Undergraduate students from a developing world.
How to Apply
To apply for the scholarship for complimentary membership or to renew your existing scholarship, please follow these instructions:
- Login to your MPSA account if you are renewing an existing complimentary membership. If you need to create a new account for a new membership, click here. If you need to reset your password, click here. Please do not create a duplicate account. If you need assistance with your account, email MPSA staff for help.
- After logging in, update your profile in entirety including the following sections: My Profile, My Bio, My Address Preferences, My Contact Information, My Background and Research Interests, Privacy & Notifications.
- Complete the application here.
Your application will be reviewed by MPSA staff and successful applicants will be notified of a decision via email. If granted a complimentary membership, benefits will start at the beginning of the following month.
Complimentary Conference Registrations for Developing Nation Scholars
If you are a scholar from a developing nation and have been awarded a complimentary MPSA membership, you are eligible to apply for a conference fee waiver. Learn more about conference fee waivers here.
Qualifying Developing Nations Countries
Scholars must be residing and working/attending a university in their home country to be eligible to participate in the program. The following qualifying developing nations countries as defined by the World Bank for the 2025 fiscal year are:
| Afghanistan | Guinea | Samoa |
| Albania | Guinea-Bissau | São Tomé and Principe |
| Algeria | Haiti | Senegal |
| Angola | Honduras | Serbia |
| Argentina | India | Sierra Leone |
| Armenia | Indonesia | Solomon Islands |
| Azerbaijan | Iran, Islamic Rep. | Somalia |
| Bangladesh | Iraq | South Africa |
| Belarus | Jamaica | South Sudan |
| Belize | Jordan | Sri Lanka |
| Benin | Kazakhstan | St. Lucia |
| Bhutan | Kenya | St. Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Bolivia | Kiribati | Sudan |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Korea, Dem. Rep. | Suriname |
| Botswana | Kosovo | Swaziland |
| Brazil | Kyrgyz Republic | Tajikistan |
| Burkina Faso | Lao PDR | Tanzania |
| Burundi | Lebanon | Thailand |
| Cabo Verde | Lesotho | Timor-Leste |
| Cambodia | Liberia | Togo |
| Cameroon | Libya | Tonga |
| Central African Republic | Macedonia, FYR | Tunisia |
| Chad | Madagascar | Türkiye |
| China | Malawi | Turkmenistan |
| Colombia | Malaysia | Tuvalu |
| Comoros | Maldives | Uganda |
| Congo, Dem. Rep. | Mali | Ukraine |
| Congo, Rep | Marshall Islands | Uzbekistan |
| Côte d’Ivoire | Mauritania | Vanuatu |
| Cuba | Mauritius | Venezuela, RB |
| Djibouti | Mexico | Vietnam |
| Dominica | Montenegro | West Bank and Gaza |
| Dominican Republic | Morocco | Yemen, Rep. |
| Ecuador | Mozambique | Zambia |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | Myanmar | Zimbabwe |
| El Salvador | Namibia | |
| Eritrea | Nepal | |
| Eritrea | Nicaragua | |
| Ethiopia | Niger | |
| Fiji | Nigeria | |
| Gabon | Pakistan | |
| Gambia, The | Papua New Guinea | |
| Georgia | Paraguay | |
| Ghana | Peru | |
| Grenada | Philippines | |
| Guatemala | Rwanda | Revised 10/1/25 |
MPSA Receives National Honors for Developing Nations Initiative
July 8, 2015, Bloomington, IN – The Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) has earned a 2015 ASAE “Power of A” Silver Award for its efforts to provide access to research and teaching resources to political scientists from the developing world.
Over the past decade, MPSA has made intentional shifts to have a more internationally-inclusive focus: The organization has substantially increased the number of research sections on comparative politics and international relations at the conference, and the AJPS has slowly received (and published) more articles in these fields. The composition of the MPSA board has also shifted over this same period – moving from regional to national and it now includes researchers from many countries. With a mission to advance research and teaching in political science, the association has found that scholars, students, and teachers in the developing world lack the funding to join the MPSA. These scholars often experience additional challenges because non-democratic countries usually suppress the study of politics and policy.
ASAE’s Power of A (association) Awards, the association industry’s highest honor, recognize the association community’s valuable contributions on the local, national, and global level. The Power of A Awards reward outstanding accomplishments of associations and industry professionals for their efforts to enrich lives, create a competitive workforce, prepare society for the future, drive innovation, and make a better world.