The Skytte Foundation at Uppsala University, Sweden, has awarded the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science for 2008 to Rein Taagepera, University of California at Irvine and Tartu University, Estonia, for "his profound analysis of the function of electoral systems in representative democracy."

Professor Taagepera worked initially in physics (University of Delaware Ph.D. in Physics, 1965), and, after getting an M.A. in International Relations (Delaware, 1969), he began his career in political science at the University of California, Irvine.  He is best known for his quantitative modelling studies of electoral systems.

In 1991 Taagepera returned to Estonia to found a new School of Social Sciences at the University of Tartu, where he became Professor of Political Science. He also served as a member of the Estonian Constitutional Assembly, and in 1992, he ran as a presidential candidate.

The Skytte Prize was established in 1994 from the donation made in 1622 by Johan Skytte, a member of the Swedish government and Chancellor of Uppsala University. Consisting of an award of $50,000, the prize is one of the largest and most prestigious in political science. Earlier winners include noted political scientists Robert Dahl, Juan Linz, Arend Lijphart, Alexander George, Elinor Ostrom, Fritz Scharpf, Brian Barry, Sidney Verba, Hanna Pitkin, Jean Blondel, Robert Keohane, Robert Putnam, and Theda Skocpol.  Annual nominations are made from around the world to a prize committee at Uppsala University by November 30. The official decision is made by the Skytte Foundation.

The Skytte Prize will be awarded to Professor Taagepera in a ceremony in Uppsala on September 27, 2008.

For more on the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, see http://athena.statsvet.uu.se/prize/.