Critics have charged that CNPS was responsible for negatively affecting the APSA in 1968 and 1969 with the challenge to association's commitment to political neutrality on public issues of the day.
The non-profit also sponsors public addresses by prominent progressive public intellectuals including Barbara Ehrenreich, Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Frances Fox Piven, Lani Guinier, John Conyers, Barney Frank, Rashid Khalidi, former AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, and Michael Parenti.
The CNPS has also issued political positions outside of APSA as a signatory on several national campaigns defending intellectuals and artists experiencing public criticism and controversy such as Tony Kushner, Rashid Khalidi and Frances Fox Piven.
Bay was a prominent scholar, best known for his book The Structure of Freedom which presented a critique of systems analysis and the prioritizing of abstract concepts over the practical needs of society.
The Caucus’ decision created an election scenario without precedent in APSA, and it was decided that it would be conducted by mail, and administered by the American Arbitration Association.
[9] The failed bids to win executive seats caused members to leave the Caucus, the most-prominent being Alan Wolfe in 1971, and Theodore J. Lowi a few years later.
The Caucus remains a forum for publication, discussion, and the exchange of information for young and established academics with progressive political commitments.