Scientific Study of International Processes (SSIP) Section Charter

Article 1:
Name: This organization shall be known as the Section of the Scientific Study of International Processes of the International Studies Association.

Article 2:
Affiliation: SSIP is a section of the International Studies Association and, as such, subscribes to ISA's purposes and supports its activities.

Article 3:
Purposes: SSIP is dedicated to bringing together researchers who, at all levels of analysis and with respect to the entire range of international political questions, pursue these issues using (1) formally stated arguments and/or (2) systematically collected and analyzed empirical data. Following the canons of scientific inquiry, the section seeks to support and promote replicable research in terms of the clarity of a theoretical argument and/or the testing of hypotheses. Eligibility for participation in SSIP activities requires membership in ISA and formal affiliation with SSIP.

Article 4:
SSIP shall cooperate fully with any existing organization that has similar goals, both within and outside ISA, including the Peace Science Society (international) and study groups in the American Political Science Association and International Political Science Association.

Article 5:
Membership: Anyone who shares the purposes of the organization may become a member, and any member who is also an ISA member is entitled to vote for elective officers.

Article 6:
Officers: The officers shall consist of a chair, a three-person advisory council, and a secretary/treasurer. The chair and secretary/treasurer will serve for two years. The initial advisory council will serve staggered terms of, respectively, one, two, and three years. Subsequent advisory council members will serve three-year terms. The chair will appoint a three -person nominating committee, which will report its recommendations to the current chair. Elections will take place at the section's scheduled business meeting during the ISA Annual Convention. The immediate-past-chair and the chair-elect will serve as ex-officio members of the advisory council.

Article 7:
Structure: The chair, together with the advisory council, will work with the ISA program chair to develop for the Annual Convention a set of panels that promote the section's goals, as stated in Article 3. The types of panels envisaged include, but are not restricted to, (1)substantive panels that focus on a major theoretical question from an analytic and/or empirical perspective, (2) methodologically oriented panels in which possibly diverse questions are examined using the same methodology, and (3) comparative methodology panels that explore the optimal matching between types of theoretical issues and available methodologies and make comparisons across methodological traditions. The chair will also work with the ISA program chair to minimize conflicts among the ISA- and SSIP-scheduled panels. The chair and advisory council will establish a dues structure, to be presented for approval at the membership meeting or by mail ballot to section members.

Article 8:
Amendments: Amendments to this charter may be proposed by the chair or upon petition of five SSIP members. The chair will inform the membership of the proposed amendments. Amendments will be voted on at the scheduled SSIP business meeting during the ISA Annual Convention.