CALL FOR EDITORS

POLITICAL RESEARCH QUARTERLY (2026-2030)

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Western Political Science Association (WPSA) President Tony Affigne has announced the formation of a search committee to recommend the selection of a new Editor or Editors for the Political Research Quarterly (PRQ). The term of the current editors expires on June 30, 2026. The association seeks nominations of qualified individuals who can edit the journal from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030. This four-year term is renewable for a two-year extension. Self-nominations are welcome. The WPSA especially encourages nominations of Editors who are women and/or members of underrepresented groups.

About the Political Research Quarterly (PRQ)

In association with the WPSA, PRQ is a refereed quarterly journal that publishes original research in all areas of political science. It is consistently one of the higher ranked journals in the discipline, showcasing scholarship of exceptional merit and covering topics and subjects that include:

• American politics
• Comparative politics
• Environmental policy and politics
• Gender and sexuality
• International relations
• Political theory and philosophy
• Public law
• Public policy and public administration
• Race and ethnicity

The Editors are responsible for PRQ’s substantive content. This entails, among other duties, advancing the journal’s mission and enhancing its reputation; soliciting articles and overseeing the peer review process; consulting and managing the Editorial Board; and collaborating with the publisher to increase the journal’s visibility and readership. The new Editors are strongly encouraged to continue PRQ’s efforts to better reflect the WPSA’s full range of theoretical and substantive interests (e.g., American politics; comparative politics; political theory; racial and ethnic politics) as well as methodological pluralism (e.g., quantitative methods; qualitative methods; mixed methods).

Nominations and Inquiries

Nominations and/or requests for more information should be submitted to:

Chris Stout (Chair)
UC San Diego
cstout@ucsd.edu

PRQ Editor Selection Committee

Name	Institution	Email
Chris Stout (Chair)	UC San Diego	cstout@ucsd.edu
Nadia E. Brown	Georgetown University	nadia.brown@georgetown.edu
Nathan Chan	Loyola Marymount University	Nathan.Chan@lmu.edu
Alex Diones	Loyola Marymount University	adiones14@gmail.com
James M. Scott	Illinois State University	jmscott6@ilstu.edu
Claudio Holzner (ex officio)	Managing Editor of the PRQ University of Utah	c.holzner@utah.edu
Richard Clucas (ex officio)	Western Political Science Association Executive Director	hprc@pdx.edu
Tony Affigne (ex officio)	Western Political Science Association President	affigne@providence.edu

PRQ and the WPSA

Formerly the Western Political Quarterly, PRQ is owned and published by the University of Utah. Since 1971, it has been a cooperative endeavor between the University of Utah and the WPSA. The Memorandum of Understanding governing this cooperation can be obtained from Richard Clucas (hprc@pdx.edu). SAGE Publications is the official publisher of the journal.

Financial Arrangements

PRQ’s Editors generally receive support from the University of Utah (which owns the journal), and in most cases the Editors’ home institution(s), which may take a variety of forms. An editorial subvention from the PRQ (University of Utah) is provided to the Editors, who invoice the university for their intended use of this subvention. Expenses drawing on this amount may include: PRQ-related travel, office supplies, conference receptions, telecommunications, postage, and editorial assistants. Copy-editing and printing are handled by SAGE Publications.

Candidates can contact Claudio Holzner (claudio.holzner@poli-sci.utah.edu) for information about financial aspects of the journal’s operation or its relationship with SAGE. Candidates can also contact Richard Clucas (hprc@pdx.edu) for information on the subvention amount and related financial matters. Further information about the operation of PRQ and the search for a new editorial team is available on the WPSA website: http://wpsanet.org.

Candidates are also welcome to communicate directly with the current PRQ Editors to learn more about the position of Editor or to receive input about negotiating institutional support as part of their application. The current editor-in-chief is Tony Smith (casmith@uci.edu).

Please note: The Selection Committee plans to evaluate ALL applications on the merits of their proposed efforts, including how the Editor(s) plan to maintain and enhance PRQ’s visibility in political science. While institutional support for any Editorial Team is crucial to its success, it is not determinative of any application’s success or failure. Rather, institutional support is considered as one component of many in the evaluation of proposals. Institutional resource constraints should not be an impediment to submitting an application for full consideration.

Application Process

Applications must be accompanied by:

• A modified curriculum vitae that highlights previous activities relevant to overseeing operation(s) where peer review is a central feature, including prior editing of a journal(s) and/or service as associate editor at a previous publication.
• A formal statement about editorial goals, including ways to attract high-quality manuscripts, increasing PRQ’s visibility in the discipline, enhancing the ranking of the journal, and ensuring timely and competent appraisals of submitted papers. The Selection Committee strongly recommends that each statement should discuss how the Editorial Team will improve PRQ’s efforts to be actively inclusive of the WPSA’s manifold theoretical interests and methodologies. In particular, it should explain how the Editorial Team aims to achieve a greater level of inclusivity at the submission and peer review stage.
• A letter from the appropriate administrative office of the nominee’s university, at the Dean level or higher, indicating the degree of support for an Editor or Editorial Team.

Given the broad range of topics, subjects and methodologies published in the journal, candidates are encouraged to consider submitting proposals for joint or team editorships, including collaborating with colleagues across universities.

For full consideration, please submit nominations by December 15, 2025, when the committee will begin its review. Please email all application materials to Committee Chair Chris Stout (cstout@ucsd.edu) and WPSA Executive Director Richard Clucas at hprc@pdx.edu.

It is possible that some phone/zoom interviews will be conducted in February 2026 with a short list of candidates.

At the 2026 Annual Meeting in San Diego (April 2, 2026 - April 4, 2026), the PRQ Editor Search Committee will interview candidates and make their recommendation to the Executive Council. The Executive Council will then vote on the new editor(s), who will begin their duties on July 1, 2026.