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 47. American Political Thought awards to-date »

Best Book Award

Awarded annually to the best book in American Political Thought. The winner will receive a $400 monetary award and a framed certificate. Nomination Procedure: Nominations are accepted directly from university presses and publishers who should send copies of nominated books directly to committee members. Authors are encouraged to contact publishers to request nomination of their book for this award, but each publisher may only nominate two books. Deadline: March 1, 2027

2026 Award Recipient:

Noah Eber-Schmid, Indian University
Founding Fanatics: Extremism and the Formation of American Democracy. Oxford University Press, 2025.

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email
Emily Pears (Chair)	Claremont McKenna College	emily.pears@cmc.edu
Saladin Ambar	Rutgers University	saladin.ambar@eagleton.rutgers.edu
Noah Eber-Schmid	Indiana University	nebersch@iu.edu

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Best Dissertation Award

The Best Dissertation in American Political Thought Award will be awarded bi-annually to the best dissertation written by a political scientist on a topic in American Political Thought. The winner will receive a $400 monetary award and a framed certificate. Nomination Procedure: Nominations are accepted from dissertation advisers and department chairs. Please send nominations to the committee chair, Charles Zug (czug@missouri.edu). Deadline for nominations: March 1, 2027

2026 Award Recipient:

Austin Nelson, University of Texas at Austin
“America’s Bankrupt Constitution: Contract Rights, Insolvent Debtors, and the Foundations of American Federalism.”

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email
Jeremy Bailey (Chair)	University of Florida	jd.bailey@ufl.edu
Stephen Goniprow	Hillsdale College	sgoniprow@hillsdale.edu
Kathleen Sullivan	Ohio University	sullivak@ohio.edu

Best Paper Award

Award annually to the best paper delivered on American Political Thought at the previous annual meeting of the American Political Association. The winner will receive a $400 monetary award and a framed certificate. Nomination Procedure: Please send nominations to all committee members. Panel Chairs and Discussants are encouraged to nominate the best paper on their panel for this award. Authors may contact chairs and discussants to nominate. Deadline for nominations: March 1, 2027

2026 Award Recipient:

Connor M. Ewing, University of Toronto
“Trapped by Time?: The Democratic Dilemmas of the Dead Hand.”

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email
Keidrick Roy (Chair)	Dartmouth College	keidrick.j.roy@dartmouth.edu
Connor Ewing	University of Toronto	connor.m.ewing@gmail.com
Lisa Pace Vetter	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	DC41767@umbc.edu

Lifetime Achievement Award

Awarded annually to a political scientist who has defended American political thought as a distinct and distinguished field of inquiry within political science and made extraordinary contributions to research and teaching in the field. The winner will be honored at the award reception at APSA’s Annual Conference and receive a $400 monetary award and a framed certificate. Nomination Procedure: A one-to-two-page letter of nomination should be sent to each committee member and the Section Chair of APT, Susan McWilliams Barndt, smcwilliams@cmc.edu. It should establish the outstanding contributions and lifelong service of the nominee to American Political Thought. Nomination may also be generated from discussions among committee members. Deadline for nominations: March 1, 2027

2026 Award Recipient:

James W. Ceaser, University of Virginia

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email
Susan McWilliams Barndt (Chair)	Pomona College	susan.mcwilliams.barndt@gmail.com
Jeremy Bailey	University of Florida	jd.bailey@ufl.edu
Keidrick Roy	Dartmouth College	keidrick.j.roy@dartmouth.edu
John Dinan	Wake Forest University	dinanjj@wfu.edu

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Best Article Award

Awarded annually to the best article published during the previous year in the flagship journal, American Political Thought. The winner will receive a $400 monetary award and a framed certificate. Nomination Procedure: The editors of American Political Thought nominate three to five articles published in the previous year to be considered by the Committee. The committee will then chose the winner from this pool.

2025 Award Recipient:

Christopher Woods, Brown University
“The Original Conservative Legal Movement: Joseph Story’s Long War on Juries and Abolitionists (1805-1845).” American Political Thought 14(3): 381-413. 2025.

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email
Gianna Englert (Chair)	University of Texas at Austin	gianna.englert@austin.utexas.edu
Vincent Philip Muñoz	University of Notre Dame	vmunoz@nd.edu
Christopher Woods	Brown University	christopher_woods@alumni.brown.edu