2005 Awards APSA Recognizes Outstanding Accomplishments during Annual Meeting

See complete citations for all 2005 awards. 

The Association honored 25 scholars for their career achievements and outstanding research at the 2005 Awards Ceremony and Luncheon, held as part of the Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Hosted by 2005 Program Co-Chairs James Johnson, Jack Knight, and Susan Stokes, the event began with a luncheon for the winners, their guests, and committee members, and was followed by a ceremony presenting 20 prizes.

The Association recognized four individuals for their major contributions to the profession and our understanding and practice of politics. The Association was pleased to honor Vincent Ostrom of Indiana University with the John Gaus Award for a lifetime of exemplary scholarship in the joint traditions of political science and public administration. In conjunction with receiving the Gaus Award, Ostrom delivered the annual John Gaus lecture, titled "Citizen-Sovereigns: A Challenge for Political Science and Public Administration." The lecture was published in the January issue of PS.

Former APSA president Elinor Ostrom was awarded the Association's James Madison Award. The committee selected Ostrom in recognition of her distinguished 40-year career over which her scholarship has made a deep and lasting impact on the study of political, social, and economic institutions. As part of the Award she delivered the 2005 Madison Lecture, titled "Converting Threats into Opportunities."

The Benjamin E. Lippincott Award was presented to political theorist Carole Pateman of UCLA for her seminal work, The Sexual Contract (Stanford University Press, 1988). The committee noted "this richly textured study offers a powerful critique of social contract theory, raising questions about its philosophical integrity and its political import." The Lippincott Award is presented every two years for a work of exceptional quality that is still considered significant after a time span of at least 15 years since the publication date.

The Carey McWilliams Award, presented annually to an individual who has made a major journalistic contribution to the understanding of politics, was presented to one of today's foremost political commentators, Seymor M. Hersh of The New Yorker for his contribution to the public's understanding of major social and political trends.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Award, presented each year in recognition of notable public service by a political scientist, was presented to Richard H. Solomon, president of the United States Institute of Peace. Solomon earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As leader of the USIP since 1993, Ambassador Solomon has turned the Institute into a vibrant center of international conflict management analysis and action.

Eight dissertation prizes were awarded to young scholars who had completed their doctoral studies in 2003 or 2004. The Gabriel A. Almond prize for the best dissertation in comparative politics was awarded to Edmund James Malesky, University of California, San Diego. Malesky completed "At Provincial Gates: The Impact of Locally Concentrated Foreign Direct Investment on Provincial Autonomy and Economic Reform" under the direction of Robert O. Keohane and Herbert Kitschelt at Duke University.

The 2005 William Anderson Award for the best doctoral dissertation in the general field of federalism, intergovernmental relations, or state and local politics was awarded to Michael C. Craw, Michigan State University. Craw completed his dissertation, "Bringing the City Back In: Municipal Government in U.S. Redistributive Policy," under the direction of Kenneth N. Bickers at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Lori A. Johnson, Mercer University and Martin J. Sweet, Honors College, Florida Atlantic University, were dual recipients of the Edward S. Corwin award for their dissertations respectively entitled "Who Governs the Guardians? The Politics of Policymaking for Federal Courts" and "Supreme Policymaking: Coping with the Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Policies." Robert Kagan of the University of California, Berkeley served as Johnson's dissertation chair while John Witte from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, directed Sweet's work. The Corwin Award is given for the best doctoral dissertation in the field of public law.

The Harold D. Lasswell Award for the best dissertation in policy studies was awarded jointly to Esther N. Mwangi of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, and Thad Williamson of the University of Richmond. Mwangi's dissertation, entitled "Institutional Change and Politics: The Transformation of Property Rights in Kenya's Maasailand" was completed under the direction of Elinor Ostrom at Indiana University, Bloomington. Williamson's work "Sprawl, Justice and Citizenship: A Philosophical and Empirical Inquiry," was overseen by Michael Sandel of Harvard University.

Emilie Marie Hafner-Burton of Nuffield College, Oxford University received the Helen Dwight Reid Award for the best doctoral dissertation in international relations, law, and politics. Hafner-Burton wrote her dissertation, "Globalizing Human Rights? How International Trade Agreements Shape Government Repression," under the direction of Michael Barnett, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The E. E. Schattschneider Award for the best dissertation in the field of American Politics presented to Markus Prior, Princeton University. Prior completed his dissertation, "Post-Broadcast Democracy: How Greater Media Choice Changes Politics" under the direction of Shanto Iyengar of Stanford University.

The Leonard D. White Award for best doctoral dissertation in the field of public administration was awarded to Sergio Fernandez of Indiana University. Guided by Hal Rainey of the University of Georgia, Fernandez completed his dissertation entitled, "Explaining Contracting Effectiveness: An Empirical Analysis of Contracting for Services among Local Governments."

The Leo Strauss Award, for the best doctoral dissertation completed and accepted in 2003 or 2004 in the field of political philosophy, was presented to Douglas Casson of St. Olaf College. He completed his dissertation, "Liberating Judgment: John Locke and the Politics of Probability," under the direction of Ruth Grant of Duke University.

Two awards were presented in the paper and article category in 2005. For the first time the Heinz Eulau Award was given for both the best article published in the American Political Science Review and the best article published in Perspectives on Politics during 2004. The prize for the best APSR article was given to Jonathan Bendor of Stanford University and Adam H. Meirowitz of Princeton University for their work entitled, "Spatial Models of Delegation," published in the May 2004 issue. Mala N. Htun from the New School for Social Research was recognized for her work entitled, "Is Gender like Ethnicity? The Political Representation of Identity Groups," published in the September 2004 issue of Perspectives on Politics.

The 2005 Franklin L. Burdette/Pi Sigma Alpha Award for the best paper presented at last year's Annual Meeting was presented jointly to William T. Bernhard of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and David Leblang of the University of Colorado, Boulder, for their work, "When Markets Party: Stocks, Bonds and Cabinet Formations."

Five book awards were also presented. Seyla Benhabib of Yale University and Richard M. Valelly of Swarthmore College were co-winners of the Association's Ralph Bunche Award. Benhabib's book is entitled, The Rights of Others (Cambridge University Press) while Valelly's is entitled, The Two Reconstructions: The Struggle for Black Enfranchisement (University of Chicago Press). The Bunche award is given for the year's best scholarly work in political science that explores the phenomenon of ethnic and cultural pluralism.

The Gladys M. Kammerer Award, given for the best political science publication in 2004 in the field of U.S. national policy, was awarded to Charles T. Clotfelter of Duke University for his work, After Brown: The Rise and Retreat of School Desegregation (Princeton University Press) and to Geoffrey R. Stone of the University of Chicago for his book, Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from The Sedition Act of 1798 to The War on Terrorism (W. W. Norton & Company).      

The 2005 Victoria Schuck Award, for the best book published in 2004 on women and politics was awarded to Saba Mahmood of the University of California, Berkeley for Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject (Princeton University Press).

Finally, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award, for the best book published in 2004 on government, politics, or international affairs, was awarded to both Kathleen Thelen of Northwestern University and Steven I. Wilkinson of Duke University. Thelen's was presented the award for her work, How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan (Cambridge University Press). Wilkinson was recognized for his book, Votes on Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India (Cambridge University Press).

APSA recognizes the achievements of these scholars. Nomination information for future awards is on the APSA web site.