The idea of establishing an association for political science students was born in 1996 in Rome, when SPIL (the Society for Political Science Students in Leiden - the Netherlands) visited the political science association in Rome - Italy.
Most academic disciplines have students' networks, but for political science students there was none. Therefore, IAPSS was established in Leiden on the 31st of October 1998. IAPSS was meant as an umbrella uniting local political science associations and students by granting them access to a constant information flow of current matters in the field of political sciences. Furthermore, IAPSS should provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and for help on research/studies. Since IAPSS' centre of gravity was Europe, for the first three years of its existence, it managed to unify seventeen association members in Europe. During those years it was lead in succession by Leiden, Oslo, Debrecen and by Rome in 2001.
One turning point occurred in 2001, when together with seven additional European associations three associations from the African continent joined - IAPSS turned into the direction of becoming a worldwide network. Just one year after the enlargement to the African continent, during the mandate of the Bucharest member association. This trend continued in the following years, when associations from North and South America and Asia began to join IAPSS.
Probably the most important turning point in the history of IAPSS had its beginnings in the year 2003, with POLITUSS Ljubljana managing the fate of IAPSS. At the legendary General Assembly in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the highest decision making body of IAPSS, the Local Associations' delegates at the GA, decided for an evolutionary step, leading the Association from a loose network to a more stable and predictable organization by establishing a permanent seat and secretariat in Ljubljana.
While the Association was led by a joint ExCom consisting of Marburg and Cluj during 2004, the work on the implementation of the permanent seat and secretariat began in order to be functional at the start of the ExCom-mandate 2004/2005.
