Legislative Studies (Section 3)
The purpose of this section is to provide members with an interest in legislative processes, behavior, and representation opportunities to meet and exchange ideas.
Founded: 1983
Website: https://connect.apsanet.org/s3/
Section Membership Dues
Student | Regular |
|---|---|
| $5 (Online Journal Only) | $25 (Online Journal Only) |
Section Officers
Section Officers
Section Journal
Legislative Studies Quarterly

Published 4 times per year, click here for electronic access instructions.
Section Awards
Award nominations should be submitted on or before May 15, 2026. Nominations can be submitted via this web form.
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 May 15. Please send cover letter and copy of work to each member of the prize committee. If the nomination is a book, please contact the committee members directly by email for their addresses if you plan to physically mail the nominated book. Nominations can be submitted by email to the committee, but preferably using this web form.
Deadline for nominations: May 15, 2026
Award Committee
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Sara Sadhwani (Chair) | Pomona College | sara.sadhwani@pomona.edu |
| Eric Gonzalez Juenke | Michigan State University | juenke@msu.edu |
| Adam Dynes | Brigham Young University | adamdynes@byu.edu |
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 May 15. 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. Nominations can be submitted by email to the committee, but preferably using this web form.
Deadline for nominations: May 15, 2026
Award Committee
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Samantha Pettey (Chair) | Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts | S.Pettey@mcla.edu |
| Michael Olson | Washington University | michael.p.olson@wustl.edu |
| Valeria Palanza | Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile | vpalanza@uc.cl |
CQ Press Award
The CQ Press Award for the best paper on legislative studies presented at the previous year’s APSA Annual Meeting. Nominations can be submitted by email to the committee, but preferably using this web form.
Deadline for nominations: May 15, 2026
Award Committee
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Sarah Anderson (Chair) | University of California, Santa Barbara | sanderson@bren.ucsb.edu |
| Jose Javier Alcocer | Harvard University | jalcocer@law.harvard.edu |
| Zoe Nemerever | Auburn University | nemerever@auburn.edu |
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 (2025) are under consideration. Nominations can be submitted by email to the committee, but preferably using this web form.
Deadline for nominations: May 15, 2026
Award Committee
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Christopher Kam (Chair) | University of British Columbia | chris.kam@ubc.ca |
| Rob Oldham | Agnes Scott College | roldham@agnesscott.edu |
| Kenneth Lowande | University of Michigan | lowande@umich.edu |
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 2025 copyright date, and a copy of the book must be sent to each member of the selection committee. Please contact the committee members directly by email for their addresses if you plan to physically mail the nominated book. Nominations can be submitted by email to the committee, but preferably using this web form.
Deadline for nominations: May 15, 2026
Award Committee
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Julia Ju Yeon Park (Chair) | Ohio State University | park.3509@osu.edu |
| Annelise Russell | University of Kentucky | arussell@uky.edu |
| Kris Kanthak | University of Pittsburgh | kanthak@pitt.edu |
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 May 15. Nominations can be submitted by email to the committee, but preferably using this web form.
Deadline for nominations: May 15, 2026
Award Committee
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Kristina Miler (Chair) | University of Maryland | kmiler@umd.edu |
| Jason Casellas | University of Houston | jcasella@Central.UH.EDU |
| Michael Crespin | University of Oklahoma | crespin@ou.edu |
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. Nominations can be submitted by email to the committee, but preferably using this web form.
Deadline for nominations: May 15, 2026
Award Committee
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Gail McElroy (Chair) | Trinity College Dublin | mcelroy@tcd.ie |
| Christian Fong | University of Michigan | cjfong@umich.edu |
| Neil Chaturvedi | California Polytechnic State University | nschaturvedi@cpp.edu |
