Westel Woodbury Willoughby was an American academic who played an important role in establishing a discipline of political science. He was professor at Johns Hopkins University where he established its first department of political science.

The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four academic journals: American Political Science Review, Perspectives on Politics, Journal of Political Science Education, and PS: Political Science & Politics. APSA Organized Sections publish or are associated with 15 additional journals.