This article comprehensively analyzes — for the fi rst time in the history of the political science discipline — the historic results of the work of 11th World Congress of the International Political Science Association held in Moscow in 1979 and its contemporary signifi cance. The author sets out the experience of preparing for the Congress, key problems connected with it and theses presented during the Congress. Special attention is paid to the study of the complex organizational work of International Political Science Association and the Soviet Political Science Association. The author analyzes the role of foreign and Russian political and social scientists in the Moscow Congress using the methods of expert analysis. The article discusses in detail the work of the Congress, offers characterizations of its structures and speakers, and provides information about the participants from all continents and countries. The signifi cance of the Moscow congress is that it marked the beginning of the diffi cult process of institutionalization of political science in the USSR and strengthened the role of Soviet political scientists in the International Political Science Association.