During its history[1] it has helped build bridges between East and West, North and South, and has promoted collaboration between scholars in both established and emerging democracies.

Its aim is to create a global political science community in which all can participate, most recently it has been extending its reach in Eastern Europe and Latin America.

The council lays down broad policy guidelines for the association and elects the executive committee, which is responsible for the conduct of IPSA's affairs between congresses.

The special mandate of IPSA, expressed in its Constitution, is to support the development of political science in all parts of the world, building academic networks linking East and West, North and South.

It seeks to promote collaboration between scholars in emerging and established democracies and to support the academic freedoms needed for the social sciences to flourish.

IPSA strives to ensure balanced representation in terms of region, gender and stage of career in all its activities – for example, the creation of a new research committee must be supported by political scientists from at least seven countries and two continents.

By linking scholars from North and South as well as East and West, IPSA seeks to strengthen the networks that underpin a global political science community.

IPSA offers summer schools in São Paulo, Brazil (since 2010), Stellenbosch, South Africa (2011-2013), Singapore (since 2012), Ankara/Antalya, Turkey (since 2013), Mexico (since 2016), St. Petersburg (since 2017), Naples (since 2018) and Montréal (since 2020).

More recently, IPSA has offered an online publication, IPSAPortal, which provides ratings and links for the top 300 web sites for political science worldwide.