Congratulations to the 2026 American Political Science Association (APSA) Award Winners -
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is delighted to announce the winners of the 2026 APSA Awards! APSA recognizes and honors the work of various scholars who have made outstanding contributions to political science research, [. . . ]
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is delighted to announce the winners of the2026 APSA Awards! APSA recognizes and honors the work of various scholars who have made outstanding contributions to political science research, teaching and service. Recipients will be honored at the APSA Awards Reception during the122nd APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition, held in Boston, Massachusetts. DISSERTATION AWARDSGabriel A. Almond Awardfor the best dissertation in the field of comparative politicsRecipient:Daniel Barker Flores,University of Hong KongTitle:“Coercion, Capital, and The Latin American City: Understanding Territorial Control and Governance in Marginalized Urban Communities”William Anderson Awardfor the best dissertation in the general field of federalism or intergovernmental relations, state, and local politicsRecipient:Jonathan Colner,American UniversityTitle:“Legislative Attention and Electoral Institutions in Municipal Government”Edward S. Corwin Awardfor the best dissertation in the field of public lawRecipient:Matthew Martin,University of Texas at AustinTitle:“The People’s Voice, The Drafters’ Choice: The Politics of Public Consultation in Constitution-Making”Harold D. Lasswell Awardfor the best dissertation in the field of public policyRecipient:Elizabeth Thom,Northwestern UniversityTitle:“Withering On The Vine: Political and Policy Lessons from Extractive Industry Decline in the United States”E. E. Schattschneider Awardfor the best dissertation in the field of American governmentRecipient: Annie Benn,Colgate UniversityTitle:“Unilateral Action Reconsidered: Congressional Responses to Presidential Directives”Kenneth Sherrill Award for Emerging Scholarsbest doctoral dissertation on lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBTQ+) topics in political scienceRecipient:Dakota Strode,University of Pittsburgh at GreensburgTitle:“Covering the Lavendar Candidate: LGBT Candidates, Campaigns, and the Media”Kenneth Sherrill Prizefor the best dissertation proposal for an empirical study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) topics in political scienceRecipient:Angela Kothe,Cornell UniversityTitle:“Straight Making as Organized Crime”Leo Strauss Awardfor the best dissertation in the field of political philosophyRecipient:David Suell,Eastern Michigan UniversityTitle:“Temporalities of Struggle: Beginning and Belonging in the African Socialist Tradition”Merze Tate Awardfor the best dissertation in the field of international relations, law, and politicsRecipient:Isabella Bellezza,Northwestern UniversityTitle:“Exporting Homeland Security: Network Politics and the Globalization of Border Control”Leonard D. White Awardfor the best dissertation in the field of public administrationRecipient:Lin Xu,University of Hong KongTitle:“Environmental NGOs’ Political Engagement in China”PAPER, ARTICLE & POSTER AWARDSAPSA Best Poster Awardfor the best poster presented by a graduate student and/or early career scholar at the previous year’s APSA Annual MeetingRecipient:A. P. Turek,University of California, Los AngelesTitle:“Underdevelopment and Inequality: Income Distributions and Coups in the Long Run”Franklin L. Burdette/Pi Sigma Alpha Awardfor the best paper presented at the previous year’s APSA Annual MeetingRecipients:Conner Joyce,IE UniversityTitle:“Political Action in the Dark Web: Political Mobilization and Radicalization in Illicit Digital Networks”Heinz I. Eulau Awardfor best article published in theAmerican Political Science ReviewandPerspectives on Politicsin the previous calendar year. Recipient (APSR):Adam Auerbach,Yale University, Shikhar Singh,Duke University, and Tariq Thachil,University of PennsylvaniaTitle:“Who Knows How to Govern? Procedural Knowledge in India’s Small-Town Councils”Recipients (PoP):Hagar Kotef,SOAS University of Londonand Merav Amir,Queen’s University BelfastTitle:“Torture’s Bureaucracy and the ‘Legitimacy Effect’. ”BOOK AWARDSRalph J. Bunche Awardfor the best scholarly work in political science that explores the phenomenon of ethnic and cultural pluralismRecipient:Shatema Threadcraft,Vanderbilt UniversityTitle:The Labors of Resurrection: Black Women, Necromancy, and Morrisonian DemocracyRobert A. Dahl Awardfor an untenured scholar who has produced scholarship of the highest quality on democracyRecipient:Luis Schiumerini,University of Notre DameTitle:Incumbency Bias: Why Political Office is a Blessing and a Curse in Latin AmericaGladys M. Kammerer Awardfor the best book published during the previous calendar year in the field of U. S. national policyRecipient:Kathleen Thelen,Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyTitle:Attention, Shoppers! American Retail Capitalism and the Origins of the Amazon EconomyBenjamin E. Lippincott Awardfor exceptional work by a living political theorist that is still considered significant after a time span of at least 15 years since the original publicationRecipient:Wendy Brown,Institute for Advanced StudyTitle:States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late ModernityAPSA-IPSA Theodore J. Lowi First Book Awardfor the best first book in any field of political science, showing promise of having substantive impact on the overall disciplineRecipient:Ning Leng,Georgetown UniversityTitle:Politicizing Business: How Firms Are Made to Serve the Party-State in ChinaVictoria Schuck Awardfor the best book published on women and politicsRecipient:Shatema Threadcraft,Vanderbilt UniversityTitle:The Labors of Resurrection: Black Women, Necromancy, and Morrisonian Democracy. Merze Tate – Elinor Ostrom Outstanding Book Awardfor the best book on government, politics, or international affairsRecipient:Joshua Page,University of Minnesotaand Joe Soss,University of MinnesotaTitle:Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice. CAREER AWARDSAPSA Distinguished Award for Civic and Community Engagementfor significant civic or community engagement activity by a political scientist which merges knowledge and practice and has an impact outside of the profession or the academyRecipient:David Schultz,Hamline UniversityAPSA Community College Faculty Awardfor excellence in teaching, mentoring, community engagement, governance, and/or research by a community college faculty member in the professionRecipient:Mark Johnson,Minnesota State Community and Technical CollegeAPSA Distinguished Teaching Awardfor outstanding contributions to undergraduate and graduate teaching political science at two- or four-year institutionsRecipient:Terry Gilmour,Midland CollegeAPSA-PSA International Partnerships Awardfor political scientists engaged in collaborative and productive cross-national partnerships that make a significant contribution to the discipline in the areas of teaching, research, or civic engagementRecipient:Lisel Hintz,Johns Hopkins University; Feyda Sayan-Cengiz,Manisa Celal Bayar University; Madonna Kalousian,King’s College London; Devrim Yavuz,Lehman CollegeAPSA Award for Teaching Innovationfor a political scientist who has developed an effective new approach to teaching in the disciplineRecipient:Josh Franco,Cuyumaca CollegeJohn Gaus Awardfor a career of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administrationRecipients:David Weimer,University of Wisconsin-MadisonFrank J. Goodnow Awardto honor the outstanding contributions of individuals, groups and public and private organizations to both the development of the political science profession and the building of the American Political Science AssociationRecipient:Caroline Tolbert,University of IowaHubert H. Humphrey Awardfor notable public service by a political scientistRecipient:Michael McFaul,Stanford UniversityCarey McWilliams Awardfor a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politicsRecipient:Anthony Kuhn,National Public Radio (NPR)Barbara Sinclair Lecturefor achievement in promoting the understanding of the U. S. Congress and legislative politicsRecipient:Alan Wiseman,Vanderbilt UniversityJames Madison Awardan American political scientist who has made a distinguished scholarly contribution to political scienceRecipient:Peter Katzenstein,Cornell UniversitySage/CQ Press Awardfor research-based projects and those that may involve activism that has focused on advancing social justice and addressing inequality and inequity in societyRecipient:Lisel Hintz,Johns Hopkins UniversityTitle:“Academic Solidarity in the Wake of Disaster: Blueprint for an Online Writing Support Group”Visit the APSA website to learn more about APSA Awards and Recognition.