2004 Award Committee: Richard Bensel, Cornell University, Chair; Ben Page, Northwestern University; and Paul Peterson, Harvard University.

Recipient: Jeremy David Bailey, Eastern Washington University

Dissertation: "Democratic Energy: Thomas Jefferson and the Development of Presidential Power."

Dissertation Chair: Marc Landy, Boston College

Recipient: David Campbell, University of Notre Dame

Dissertation: "Participation in Context: How Communities and Schools Shape Civic Engagement"

Dissertation Chair: Robert D. Putnam, Harvard University

Citation: The E.E. Schattsneider Award is given to the best dissertation in the field of American politics. Fifteen dissertations were nominated by their home institutions and, after lengthy deliberation and discussion, the committee awarded the distinction to two young scholars, to be shared equally between them. In alphabetical order, the award is given:

To Jeremy David Bailey of Boston College for his "Democratic Energy: Thomas Jefferson and the Development of Presidential Power." Bailey explores the ways in which Jefferson's vision of the presidency (and political authority generally) was altered and validated during his two terms in office. His thesis constitutes a very important contribution to the literature on the presidency in at least two senses. First, the dissertation elaborates the way in which Jefferson's political thought was shaped by the actual practice of power, thus vastly increasing our understanding of what Jefferson intended in his theoretical writings. From this perspective, his discussion of the relationship between Jefferson as natural scientist and as president brings out of the shadows how Jefferson understood, within the practice of power, the nature of political man. Second, by reconceptualizing Jefferson's presidency as a theoretical narrative, the thesis precisely identifies the potential and actual contradictions between political responsibility (as stewardship) and obedience to democratic will. Jefferson's attempts to reconcile the two, for example, is brilliantly illustrated in Bailey's discussion of the Louisiana Purchase. In these and other ways, Bailey illuminates one of the premier figures in the development of the modern presidency and, at another level, the creative tension between maintaining philosophical consistency and pragmatically ruling a nation.

To David E. Campbell of Harvard University for his "Participation in Context: How Communities and Schools Shape Civic Engagement." Campbell develops a "dual motivation theory" as an explanation for why electoral turnout is highest in both very politically competitive areas and those which are consistently dominated by one or the other of the major parties. He convincingly distinguishes between instrumental and civic motivations for participating in elections and then effectively applies the distinction in very extensive data analysis. By combining elements from the literatures on positive theory, sociology, and social psychology, Campbell demonstrates that very different factors are at work in homogenous, one party communities (where civic duty motivates turnout) and heterogenous, politically competitive communities (in which individualist instrumental calculations predominate). He then traces the formation of these attitudes back to early socialization, particularly during adolescence when individuals develop ways of relating to their larger communities. Evidencing a broad command of a wide range of literatures and theoretical approaches, Campbell's thesis promises to re-orient the study of mass political behavior and revise our expectations for healthy democracies in the modern world.