As a non-governmental international organisation its activities are centred on the study of public administration and it provides a forum in which comparative studies – including both practical experiences and theoretical analyses of experts in public administration worldwide and from all cultures – are presented and discussed.
The Institute is interested in all questions related to contemporary public administration at the national and international level.
Each year IIAS holds three conferences in three countries around the world, is host for seven-hundred plus delegates, publishes approximately 10 books, publishes four issues of its prestigious International Review of Administrative Sciences (in three editions English, French and Mandarin Chinese), leads and coordinates activities among its ninety Member States and National Sections.
The membership is divided into different categories: any non-governmental international organisation The management bodies of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences are: The Council of Administration ensures the management and direct control of the affairs of the Institute, decides on the proposal of the Programme and Research Advisory Committee the Institute's programme of activities, and establishes the Institute's annual budget in accordance with the directions of the Council of Administration.
It approves the budget and adopts the statement of accounts on the basis of the report of the auditor that it appoints.