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Merze Tate - Elinor Ostrom Outstanding Book Award 

 

Nominations for the 2024 APSA Awards have closed.


APSA is pleased to announce that the APSA Best Book Award has been renamed the Merze Tate - Elinor Ostrom Outstanding Book Award. The award criteria will remain the same – honoring the best book on government, politics, or international affairs.


The award is named after two inspiring women, Dr. Merze Tate and Dr. Elinor Ostrom, who were pioneers in the political science discipline and beyond. Dr. Tate was the first African American woman to earn a PhD in Government while Dr. Ostrom was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics for her work on common pool resources. Both women contributed invaluable research and scholarship to the discipline of political science while facing prejudice relating to gender and race. Dr. Tate and Dr. Ostrom worked tirelessly to advance educational and professional opportunities for students and faculty, particularly scholars of color and women in the disciplines of political science, history, and economics. APSA is proud to name this award in their honor.


The Merze Tate - Elinor Ostrom Outstanding Book Award honors the best book on government, politics, or international affairs.  The award is presented at the APSA Annual Meeting and carries a cash prize of $2,000.

 

 


Nomination Information

 

 

 

  • Eligibility: Nominees do not have to be members of APSA, affiliated with an institution in the United States, or an American citizen in order to be considered for an award.  It is not compulsory that authors be political scientists.

    Books must have been published in the previous calendar year to be eligible for the current awards cycle (books for the 2024 award must be published in 2023).  Many books contain both a publication date and a copyright date, and these may differ.  Eligibility is determined by the earlier of these dates that is printed with the publication information at the front of the book. Edited books are ineligible for nomination.

 

 

  • Individuals: Please contact the publisher and ask for either an eBook to submit via the online application portal or to have a physical copy of the nominated book mailed directly to each award committee member. It is recommended that physical copies of the nominated work be mailed to each committee member in addition to uploading an ebook.

    Self-nominations are accepted.  If you nominate yourself for a book award, you assume responsibility for contacting your publisher and having copies of your book sent to the award committee either virtually or via mail.



       
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  • Publishers: Please submit your nomination online through the APSA application portal. It is recommended that physical copies of the nominated work be mailed to each committee member in addition to uploading an ebook.

 

Merze Tate - Elinor Ostrom Outstanding Book Award Committee


Chair: Jana Morgan
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
janamorgan@utk.edu

Dr. Nathan P. Kalmoe
University of Wisconsin-Madison
npkalmoe@wisc.edu

Andrew Karch
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
ajkarch@umn.edu

Dr. Catherine Lu
McGill University
catherine.lu@mcgill.ca

Dr. Milan Svolik
Yale University
milan.svolik@yale.edu


Year Author Title Publisher

2023

Jacob Grumbach, University of Washington

Laboratories Against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics

Princeton University Press

2022

Diana C. Mutz, University of Pennsylvania


Cigdem V. Sirin (University of Texas at El Paso), Nicholas A. Valentino (University of Michigan), and Jose D. Villalobos (University of Texas at El Paso)

Winners and Losers: The Psychology of Foreign Trade and Seeing Us in Them: Social Divisions and the Politics of Group Empathy

Seeing Us in Them: Social Divisions and the Politics of Group Empathy

Princeton University Press

2021

Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird

Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior

Princeton University Press

2020

Amy E. Lerman

Good Enough for Government Work: The Public Reputation Crisis in America (And What We Can Do to Fix It)

University of Chicago Press

2019  

Kristina Miler

Poor Representation: Congress and the Politics of Poverty in the United States

Cambridge University Press

2018

Daniel Ziblatt

Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy

Harvard University Press

2017

Eric Schickler

Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932-1965

Princeton University Press

2016

Prerna Singh

How Solidarity Works for Welfare: Subnationalism and Social Development in India

Cambridge University Press

2015

Ben Ansell and David Samuels

Inequality and Democratization: An Elite-Competition Approach Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time

Cambridge University Press

2014

Ira Katznelson

Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time

W.W. Norton & Company

2014

Denise Kiernan

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

Touchstone/Simon & Schuster

2013

Martin Gilens

Affluence and Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America

Princeton University Press/Russell Sage Foundation

2012

Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan

Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict

Columbia University Press

2011

Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell

American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us

Simon and Schuster

2010

Beth A. Simmons

Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics

Cambridge University Press

2009

Jens Meierhenrich

The Legacies of Law: Long-Run Consequences of Legal Development in South Africa

Cambridge University Press

2008

Etel Solingen

Nuclear Logics: Contrasting Paths in East Asia

Princeton University Press

2007

Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy

Cambridge University Press

2007

Stathis Kalyvas

The Logic of Violence in Civil War

Cambridge University Press

2006

Philip E. Tetlock

Expert Political Judgement: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?

Princeton University Press

2005

Kathleen Thelen

How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan

Cambridge University Press

2005

Steve I. Wilkinson

Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India

Cambridge University Press

2004

Martha Finnemore

The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of Force

Cornell University Press

2003

Mark Beissinger

Nationalist Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet State

Cambridge University Press

2002

Tali Mendelberg

The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality

Princeton University Press

2001

Adam Przeworski, Michael Alvarex, Jose Antonio Cheibub, and Fernado Limongi

Democracy and Development

Cambridge University Press

2000

Barry O'Neill

Honor, Symbols, and War

University of Michigan Press

1999

Rodney E. Hero

Faces of Inequality: Social Diversity in American Politics

Oxford University Press

1998

Gary W. Cox

Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems

Cambridge University Press

1997

Jane Junn, Norman Nie and Kenneth Stehlik-Barry

Education and Democratic Citizenship in America

University of Chicago Press

1996

Herbert Kitschelt

The Radical Right in Western Europe

University of Michigan Press

1995

Beth A. Simmons

Who Adjusts? Domestic Sources of Foreign Economic Policy During the Interwar Years

Princeton University Press

1994

Carol M. Swain

Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress

Harvard University Press

1993

Theda Skocpol

Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States

The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press

1992

Paul M. Sniderman, Richard A. Brody, and Philip E. Tetlock

Reasoning and Choice: Explorations in Political Psychology

Cambridge University Press

1991

Charles E. Lindblom

Inquiry and Change

Yale University Press/Russell Sage Foundation

1990

Robert A. Dahl

Democracy and Its Critics

Yale University Press

1989

Larry Bartels

Presidential Primaries and the Dynamics of Public Choice

Princeton University Press

1988

Robert Gilpin

The Political Economy of International Relations

Princeton University Press

1987

Peter Hall

Governing the Economy

Oxford University Press

1987

Philip E. Converse and Roy Pierce

Political Representation in France

Harvard University Press

1986

Peter Katzenstein

Small States in World Markets: Industrial Policy in Europe

Cornell University Press

1985

Barry R. Posen

The Sources of Military Doctrine: France, Britain and Germany between the World Wars

Cornell University Press

1984

George Th. Mavrogordatos

Stillborn Republic: Social Coalitions and Party Strategies in Greece, 1922-1936

University of California Press

1983

G. Bingham Powell

Contemporary Democracies: Participation, Stability, and Violence

Harvard University Press

1982

Paul E. Peterson

City Limits

University of Chicago Press

1981

John P. Gaventa

Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley

University of Illinois Press

1980

Leslie H. Gelb with Richard K. Betts

The Irony of Vietnam

Brookings Institution

1979

Richard F. Fenno, Jr.

Home Style

Little Brown

1978

Charles E. Lindblom

Politics and Markets

Basic Books

1977

Norman H. Nie, Sidney Verba, and John R. Petrocik

The Changing American Voter

Harvard University Press

1976

Robert A. Alford

Health Care Politics

University of Chicago Press

1975

Hugh Heclo

Modern Social Politics in Britain and Sweden

Yale University Press

1974

Robert A. Scalapino and Chong-sik Lee

Communism in Korea

University of California Press

1973

Michael Brecher

The Foreign Policy System of Israel: Setting, Images, Processes

Yale University Press

1972

David E. Apter

Choice and the Politics of Allocation

Yale University Press

1971

Ted Robert Gurr

Why Men Rebel

Princeton University Press

1970

David Butler and Donald E. Stokes

Political Change in Britain

St. Martin's Press

1969

Robert G. Dixon, Jr.

Democratic Representation

Oxford University Press

1968

Duncan MacRae, Jr.

Parliament, Parties, and Society in France, 1946-1958

St. Martin's Press

1967

Barrington Moore, Jr.

Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy

Beacon Press

1966

Samuel H. Beer

British Politics in the Collectivist Age

Alfred A. Knopf

1965

Robert E. Agger, Daniel Goldrich, and Bert E. Swanson

The Rulers and the Ruled

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

1965

Samuel J. Eldersveld

Political Parties: A Behavioral Analysis

Rand McNally

1964

Raymond A. Bauer, Ithiel de Sola Pool, and Anthony Lewis Dexter

American Business and Public Policy

Atherton Press

1963

Inis L. Claude

Power and International Relations

Random House

1962

Robert A. Dahl

Who Governs?

Yale University Press

1961

Richard Neustadt

Presidential Power: The Politics of Leadership

John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

1960

Arnold Brecht

Political Theory

Princeton University Press

1959

Christian Bay

The Structure of Freedom

Stanford University Press

1959

James S. Coleman

Nigeria: Background to Nationalism

University of California

1958

Henry A. Kissinger

Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy

Harper & Row

1958

Rexford G. Tugwell

The Democratic Roosevelt

Doubleday and Company

1957

James MacGregor Burns

The Lion and the Fox

Harcourt, Brace and Company

1956

Louis Hartz

The Liberal Tradition in America

Harcourt, Brace and Company

1955

Jacobus ten Broek, Edward N. Barnhart, and Floyd W. Matson

Prejudice, War, and the Constitution

University of California Press

1954

Bertram M. Gross

The Legislative Struggle: A Study in Social Combat

McGraw-Hill Book Company

1953

Clinton Rossiter

Seedtime of the Republic

Brace & Company

1952

Samuel Lubbell

The Future of American Politics

Harper & Row

1951

John B. Herz

Political Realism and Political Idealism

University of Chicago Press

1950

Stephen K. Bailey

Congress Makes a Law

Columbia University Press

1949

V.O. Key

Southern Politics in State and Nation

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 

1948

Leonard D. White

The Federalists: A Study in Administrative History

Macmillan Company

1947

Robert M. MacIver

The Web of Government

Macmillan Company

Beginning in 2021, APSA presented the APSA Best Book Award in lieu of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award which had been the award’s longstanding name since its inception. During that time, the APSA Council approved the creation of an ad-hoc committee to determine the new name. In 2023 APSA officially announced that the APSA Best Book Award had been renamed the Merze Tate - Elinor Ostrom Outstanding Book Award .  The award is named after two inspiring women, Dr. Merze Tate and Dr. Elinor Ostrom, who were pioneers in the political science discipline and beyond.  Dr. Tate was the first African American woman to earn a PhD in Government while Dr. Ostrom was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics for her work on common pool resources.  Both women contributed invaluable research and scholarship to the discipline of political science while facing prejudice relating to gender and race.  Dr. Tate and Dr. Ostrom worked tirelessly to advance educational and professional opportunities for students and faculty, particularly scholars of color and women in the disciplines of political science, history, and economics.  APSA is proud to name this award in their honor.