Section awards are presented during the APSA annual meeting awards ceremony. To learn more about any award listed, contact the award committee chair for the award.

All section 03. Legislative Studies awards to-date »

Alan Rosenthal Prize

In the spirit of Alan Rosenthal’s work, this prize is dedicated to encouraging young scholars to study questions that are of importance to legislators and legislative staff and to conduct research that has potential application to strengthening the practice of representative democracy. Topics may be national or subnational in focus and may apply to any country. Preference will be given to comparative legislative research among legislatures in the same country or across countries. The prize is funded by the Trust for Representative Democracy of the National Conference of State Legislatures and the State Legislative Leaders Foundation. See below for additional background.
The book or article must be published in the previous calendar year and authored by scholars below the rank of associate professor or legislative practitioners at equivalent career stage. In the case of books or articles by multiple authors, the work is eligible for the award if at least one author is below the rank of associate professor. Nominations for the prize may be made by anyone, including authors, publishers, departments, or practitioners. Deadline for submission is March 1. Please send cover letter and copy of work to each member of the prize committee.

Deadline for nominations: March 15, 2024

Award Committee

Carl Albert Dissertation Award

The Carl Albert Dissertation Award is given annually for the best dissertation in legislative studies. Topics may be national or subnational in focus — on Congress, parliaments, state legislatures, or other representative bodies. The prize is funded by the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma.  In addition to the cash prize associated with the award, winners are typically invited to guest lecture on the OU campus with travel expenses paid by the Carl Albert Center.

Nomination Instructions:. The deadline for submission is March 1. Dissertations must have a copyright date of one or two years previous to the year in which the award is presented. Terms for submitting dissertation: (1) one copy sent to each member of the committee; (2) no more than one submission per Ph.D.-granting department; (3) letter from the department indicating the selection; and (4) a letter from the dissertation chair, or other appropriate committee member, describing the significance of the work. Deadline for nominations: March 15, 2024

Award Committee

CQ Press Award

The CQ Press Award for the best paper on legislative studies presented at the previous year’s (2023) APSA Annual Meeting.
Deadline for nominations: March 15, 2024

Award Committee

Jewell-Loewenberg Paper Award

Jewell-Loewenberg Prize for the best article in the Legislative Studies Quarterly in the previous year.  All articles published in LSQ the previous year (2023) are under consideration.
Deadline for nominations: March 15, 2024

Award Committee

Richard F. Fenno, Jr. Prize

The Richard F. Fenno, Jr. Prize is awarded to the best book in legislative studies published in the previous year. In the tradition of Professor Fenno’s work, this prize is designed to honor work that is both theoretically and empirically strong. Moreover, this prize is dedicated to encouraging scholars to pursue new and different avenues of research in order to find answers to previously unexplored questions about the nature of politics. Nominations must have a 2023 copyright date, and a copy of the book must be sent to each member of the selection committee.

Nomination Instructions: Nominations must have a 2023 copyright date, and a copy of the book must be sent to each member of the selection committee.  Deadline for nominations: March 15, 2024

Award Recipient(s)

Award Committee

Barbara Sinclair Legacy Award

The Barbara Sinclair Legacy Award is designed to honor In the tradition of Professor Sinclair’s body of work, recipients of this award will have focused on individual legislative behavior, institutional rules, or the role of party in shaping legislative politics.  This award is also intended to recognize scholars who employ a range of methods in their research.  Nomination can be made by any member of the Legislative Studies Section and nomination letters are due by TBA.
Deadline for nominations: March 15, 2024

Award Recipient(s)

Award Committee

Emerging Scholar Award

The Emerging Scholar award is designed to recognize a scholar who is no more than 6 years from the year of their PhD who has informed the study of legislative politics through innovative and rigorous scholarship.  The recipient of this award will be an individual who has a strong early career publication trajectory, and has presented their work actively at conferences and other public venues.   Letters of nomination for this award should be sent to the committee along with the candidate's most recent CV.  
Deadline for nominations: March 15, 2024

Award Committee