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Awarded for the best dissertation completed in the field of public law.

Award Committee: Ira H. Carmen, Chair, University of Illinois; Ellen Ann Anderson, Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis; Gregory A. Caldeira, Ohio State University

Recipient: Diana Kapiszewski, University of California at Berkeley

Dissertation Title: “Challenging Decisions: High Courts and Economic Governance in Argentina and Brazil”

Dissertation Co-Chairs: David Collier and Robert Kagan, University of California at Berkeley

Citation: The 2008 Corwin Award Committee, believing strongly in the notion that Professor Corwin’s writings in public law extend far beyond the boundaries of the Anglo-American tradition, selects as “best dissertation” Diana Kapiszewski’s outstanding scholarly achievement “Challenging Decisions:  High Courts and Economic Governance in Argentina and Brazil.” This remarkable study was directed by cochairs David Collier and Robert Kagan.

As a student of comparative politics with special emphasis on Latin America, Dr. Kapiszewski addresses the key questions of whether and when courts of law are prepared to constrain governmental authority following the impetus toward democracy of the 1980s. Noting that this turbulent period has led to simultaneous economic and legal transformation, she focuses on the judicialization of economic governance in the region’s two largest countries - - Argentina and Brazil. She traces carefully the rather different roles of judicial politicization in Argentina and judicial professionalization in Brazil, and she shows how each in its own distinctive way orchestrates the manner in which judges employ tactical balancing in deciding politically volatile disputes. As a result of the play of these forces, Argentina’s judicial profile is one of submission while in Brazil the spirit of compromise holds sway. The analysis is grounded on sound empirical footing including an objective, elaborate case selection process. Extraordinarily, Dr. Kapiszewski undertook 20 months of fieldwork abroad and conducted 250 interviews with various authorities. Without question, her research will take its place as a critical bridge linking the study of comparative politics and public law.