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Purpose – This chapter provides one aspect of the organizational side of the biology and politics enterprise.

Design/methodology/approach – This chapter provides a historical description of two organizations that help to structure the “business” of biology and politics: The International Political Science Association’s (IPSA) Research Committee #12 and the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (APLS).

Findings – Research Committee #12 had its origins in the early 1970s, whereas APLS came about in the later 1970s. The discussion of these two organizations gives the reader a better sense of the twin enterprises. In the process of discussing APLS, the chapter also outlines the contributions of its professional journal, Politics and the Life Sciences.

Originality/value – Seldom has there been a detailed discussion of these two organizations in one place.

Biology and Politics (or Biopolitics) has been a part of the political science firmament since the 1960s. Over time, it has become less an odd outlier in the discipline and more a tolerated (and sometimes respected) part of the enterprise. After about 50 years of existence, this is a proper time to reflect on where biopolitics has been, where it is now, and where it might go as an academic endeavor. Indeed, some have said that the best step would for biopolitics to no longer be seen as a special, narrow part of political science – but a part of every field in the discipline, integrated into the larger world of the study of politics.

The various indexes published by the H.W. Wilson Company are now helping a fourth generation of library users to find articles in hundreds of periodicals and journals. One Wilson index in particular, the Social Sciences Index (SSI), has undergone major revamping in recent years. It was originally called the International Index (1907–1965). In April, 1965 it became the Social Sciences and Humanities Index; then in April, 1974 it split to form separate indexes for each area, simultaneously expanding the scope of coverage of both parts.

Public administration as an aspect of governmental activity has existed as long as political systems have been functioning and trying to achieve program objectives set by the political decision-makers. Public administration as a field of systematic study is much more recent. Advisers to rulers and commentators on the workings of government have recorded their observations from time to time in sources as varied as Kautilya's Arthasastra in ancient India, the Bible, Aristotle's Politics, and Machiavelli's The Prince, but it was not until the eighteenth century that cameralism, concerned with the systematic management of governmental affairs, became a specialty of German scholars in Western Europe. In the United States, such a development did not take place until the latter part of the nineteenth century, with the publication in 1887 of Woodrow Wilson's famous essay, “The Study of Administration,” generally considered the starting point. Since that time, public administration has become a well-recognized area of specialized interest, either as a subfield of political science or as an academic discipline in its own right.

The study of arms control and disarmament is a subject of renewed interest in the United States. The attention of academicians, politicians, and average citizens, focused by a fear of nuclear holocaust, has turned to questions of how best to seek peace and safety in the nuclear age. Courses and programs devoted to arms control and disarmament and methods of achieving peaceful resolution of conflicts in today's world are offered at all educational levels, and the general public, aware of the necessity of being well‐informed on such an important topic, is looking for ways to obtain factual and reliable information to help sort out the conflicting claims of political spokespeople. Such material does exist and should be available to researchers, professors, students, and citizens, so that they can form opinions and attempt to influence policy on the basis of a sound understanding.