SAPD publishes theoretical and empirical research on political development and institutional change in the United States.

It features a diverse range of subject matters and methodologies, including comparative, interdisciplinary, and international studies that illuminate the American case.

Journal articles usually focus on the evolution of governmental institutions over time and on their social, economic and cultural setting.

[4] It has been instrumental in fostering the growth of APD as a distinct and popular subfield within the discipline of political science.

[citation needed] SAPD's editorial advisory board includes leading political scientists and historians including Joyce Appleby, Walter Dean Burnham, Victoria Hattam, Ira Katznelson, Theodore Lowi, Theda Skocpol, Rogers Smith, and Daniel Carpenter.