For the first time in its history, the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association will take place in Seattle, Washington. Join APSA in this exciting new location to address the latest scholarship in political science and connect with colleagues from around the world. Convening in a contemporary urban environment surrounded by the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, the 2011 Annual Meeting and Exhibition will have something for scholars at every stage of their careers. 7,000 political scientists are expected to travel to Seattle to take part in this premier event in the field.

We report here on the journal's operations during the year from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010.

I am happy to report that Perspectives on Politics is thriving. We inherited a journal that was founded with a flourish in response to a range of concerns about the ways in which the U.S. political science profession had become highly specialized and balkanized, at the expense of broader understanding and public relevance. Our editorial predecessors had put the journal on a sound footing, a significant accomplishment for a new journal less than a decade old. At the same time, the journal we inherited faced some challenges related to the effective use of the Editorial Manager system; the efficiency of its operations, especially regarding communication with authors and reviewers; and its distinctive purposes and intellectual vision looking to the future. In the roughly 18 months since we assumed editorial control of the journal in June 2009, I believe that we have succeeded in addressing these challenges and projecting a new excitement about the journal and the role it can play in contributing to the invigoration of the discipline.

In recognition of their outstanding academic and personal achievements, APSA is pleased to announce the APSA Minority Fellows for the 2011–12 academic year. The Minority Fellows Program (MFP) was established in 1969 as an effort to increase the number of minority scholars in the discipline and has designated more than 600 fellows and contributed to the successful completion of doctoral political science programs for over 100 individuals.

Founded in 1953, the APSA Congressional Fellowship Program is the nation's oldest and most prestigious congressional fellowship. More than 50 years later, the program remains devoted to its original objective of expanding knowledge and awareness of Congress.

For most of American history, black Americans were excluded from the political process. Even after the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, for decades, especially in the South, blacks were prevented from voting through various institutional tactics (e.g., poll taxes and literacy tests), violence, and intimidation. As a result, most political institutions through the mid-twentieth century had few or no black faces. With the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Fifteenth Amendment was codified, and blacks began to vote and participate in the political process in unprecedented ways.

A preview of some of the articles that will be published in the July issue

In 2010, PS: Political Science and Politics published articles covering a vast range of topics. The journal's commitment to publishing articles on pedagogy and the profession, as well as exemplary topical scholarship on a spectrum of issues, calls for an equally broad stable of expert reviewers. PS cannot publish such diverse work without the outstanding work (and openmindedness) of our peer reviewers. The peer-review process relies on the professionalism and generosity of those who contribute their time and knowledge to read and evaluate the work of others.

The Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs is an invaluable resource to political and social scientists. Since its opening in September 2003, the Center has housed more than 100 scholars.

Only a few months into my first sabbatical leave from the history department at the University of Virginia, my husband accepted a new job and we unexpectedly decided to relocate to Washington, DC. Knowing how important community is to productive scholarship, I scrambled to find an office in the DC area, but I had already missed every fellowship deadline in my field. Then a contact at a DC think tank mentioned APSA's Centennial Center, which had ample room for scholars in the marvelous neighborhood of Dupont Circle.

The APSA Africa Project Steering Committee selected this year's workshop leaders in December, concluding a competitive application process.