MPSA sponsors many awards for outstanding research presented at the annual conference and an award for the best article published in each volume of the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS). Nominations are made by conference chairs, discussants, and section heads after the conference and awards committees select the winning papers.

The following awards were given for research presented at the 2025 MPSA Annual Conference. The following winners will be presented with their respective awards at the 2026 MPSA Annual Conference Awards Ceremony and Annual Business Meeting on Saturday, April 25, 2026.

Flagship Awards

Paula D. McClain Award for the MPSA Best Paper

A $500 award for the best paper presented at the annual MPSA conference. Nomination pool will consist of papers selected for the field awards. 

Caste Reparations: Economic Advance, Social Concord, and Policy Backlash
Gautam Nair, Harvard Kennedy School
Akshay Govind Dixit, Princeton University
Rajat Saini

Award Committee: Nikhar Gaikwad, Columbia University (Chair); Joshua Kalla, Yale University; Fiona Shen-Bayh, College of William; Mary Michelle, Schwarze University of Wisconsin-Madison; Roya Taibova, Harvard Kennedy School

AJPS Best Article Award 

A $1,000 award for the best article appearing in the volume of the American Journal of Political Science published in the year preceding the conference. All published articles in this timeframe will be considered.

Emigration and radical right populism
Rafaela Dancygier, Princeton University
Sirus H. Dehdari, Stockholm University
David D. Laitin, Stanford University
Moritz Marbach, University College London
Kåre Vernby, Stockholm University

Geographies of discontent: Public service deprivation and the rise of the far right in Italy (Honorable Mention)
Simone Cremaschi, University of Oxford
Paula Rettl, Harvard Business School
Marco Cappelluti, University College London
Catherine E. De Vries, Bocconi University

Award Committee: David Broockman, UC Berkeley (Chair); Avital Livny, University of Illinois; Ariel White, MIT; Eric Kramon, USC; Inken von Borzyskowski, Oxford

Field Awards

Rodney Hero Award for the Best Paper in American Politics

A $250 award for the best paper on the topic of American politics.

The Politics of Patronage and Consequences of Civil Service Reform: Evidence from the US
Kevin Angell, University of Chicago
Jon Rogowski, University of Chicago

Award Committee: Jessica Preece, BYU (Chair); Matt Pietryka, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Arvind Krishnamurthy, Ohio State University

Best Paper in International Relations Award

A $250 award for the best paper on the topic of international relations.

The Scope Expansion of International Organizations
Qi Liu, Harvard University

Award Committee: Jonathan Renshon, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Chair); Nicole Rae Baerg, University of Essex; Luwei Ying, University of California, Los Angeles

Best Paper in Political Behavior Award 

A $250 award for the best paper on the topic of political behavior.

Reducing Social Media Usage During Elections: Evidence from a Multi-Country WhatsApp Deactivation Experiment
Rajeshwari Majumdar, George Washington University
Tiago Ventura, Georgetown University
Shelley Liu, Duke University
Carolina A. Torreblanca, University of Pennsylvania
Joshua A. Tucker, New York University

Award Committee: Alex Coppock, Northwestern University (Chair); Chagai Weiss, University of Toronto; Eunji Kim, Columbia University

Evan Ringquist Award

A $250 award for the best paper on the topic of political institutions.

Who Has the Power of the Purse? Presidential Influence Over Spending Through Budget Implementation
Kevin Angell, University of Chicago

Contesting the Reach of the Rights Revolution: The Reagan Administration and the Unitary Executive (Honorable Mention)
John Dearborn, Vanderbilt University

Award Committee: Jack Paine, Emory University (Chair); Joan Ricart-Huguet, Loyola University Maryland; Emily Sellars, Yale University

Kellogg/Notre Dame Award

A $250 award for the best paper in comparative politics.

Caste Reparations: Economic Advance, Social Concord, and Policy Backlash
Gautam Nair, Harvard Kennedy School
Akshay Govind Dixit, Princeton University
Rajat Saini

Award Committee: Noam Lupu, Vanderbilt University (Chair); Julian Michel, Hong Kong Baptist University; Rachel Brule, Boston University

Kenneth J. Meier Award

A $250 award for the best paper in bureaucratic politics, public administration, or public policy.

The Scope Expansion of International Organizations
Qi Liu, Harvard University

Award Committee: Alexander Lee, University of Rochester (Chair); Guillermo Toral, IE Madrid; Kohei Suzuki, Leiden University

Review of Politics Award

A $250 award for the best paper in normative political theory.

Redemptive Exemplarity and Popular Deference: The Role of Exile in Machiavelli’s Political Thought 
Emily Salamanca, Stanford University

Award Committee: Sonu Bedi, Dartmouth College (Chair); Veronica Roberts Ogle, VIllanova University; Megan Gallagher, University of Alabama

Robert H. Durr Award

A $250 award for the best paper applying quantitative methods to a substantive problem.

The Politics of Patronage and Consequences of Civil Service Reform: Evidence from the US
Kevin Angell, University of Chicago
Jon Rogowski, University of Chicago

Caste Reparations: Economic Advance, Social Concord, and Policy Backlash (Honorable Mention)
Gautam Nair, Harvard Kennedy School
Akshay Govind Dixit, Princeton University
Rajat Saini

Award Committee: Simon Chauchard, Madrid Juan Carlos III (Chair); Sumitra Badrinathan, American University; Nicholas Haas, Aarhus University

Subfield Awards

Lucius Barker Award

A $250 award for the best paper on a topic investigating race or ethnicity and politics and honoring the spirit and work of Professor Barker.

More COPS, Higher Turnout?
Jasmine Smith, George Washington University

Award Committee: Paru Shah, Rutgers University (Chair); Mara Ostfeld, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Eric Juenke, Michigan State University

Patrick J. Fett Award

A $250 award for the best paper on the scientific study of Congress and the presidency.

Who Has the Power of the Purse? Presidential Influence Over Spending Through Budget Implementation
Kevin Angell, University of Chicago

Award Committee: James Curry, Notre Dame (Chair); Christian Fong, University of Michigan; Ruth Bloch Rubin, University of Chicago

Sophonisba Breckinridge Award

A $250 award for the best paper on the topic of women and politics.

Examining the Interplay Between Household and Community Mobilisation of Wives Following Enfranchisement
Isobel Kemp, University of Barcelona

Award Committee: Dawn Teele Johns, Hopkins University (Chair); Sarah Khann American University; Anirvan Chowdhury, University of Louisville

Richard E. Matland Award

A $250 award for the best paper by an emerging scholar in representation, elections, or voting. Author (or lead author) is an untenured faculty member or graduate student.

Examining the Interplay Between Household and Community Mobilisation of Wives Following Enfranchisement
Isobel Kemp, University of Barcelona

Award Committee: Nicholas Carnes, Duke (Chair); Amy Catalinac, NYU; Tine Paulsen, University of Southern California