The purpose of this section is to encourage the study of the interrelations between religion and politics, including the politics of religious pluralism; law, religion and governance; faith, practice and political behavior; and the politics of secularism, in the United States as well as in a comparative, historical, and global perspective.

Founded: 1986
Website: https://connect.apsanet.org/s11/    

Social: @apsa_section11 (X) @apsareligion.bsky.social (Bluesky)

Section Counts

Student	Regular
$0 (Online Journal Only)	$14 (Online Journal Only)

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 11. Religion and Politics awards to-date »

Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award

The Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award will be given annually to a conference paper studying any aspect of religion and politics presented by a Ph.D. student in political science. The conference can be affiliated with any of the US-based political science associations or a conference affiliated with another association, such as the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the American Academy of Religion, the Middle East Studies Association, or the International Studies Association, as long as the paper was written by a student or students enrolled in a graduate program in political science and presented in 2025 or 2026. Papers written with faculty will not be considered. Papers presented at poster sessions are welcome. 
Deadline for nominations: April 1, 2027

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email
Jacob Neiheisel (Chair)	University at Buffalo	jacobnei@buffalo.edu
Amanda Friesen	Western University	afries4@uwo.ca
David Buckley	Boston College	david.buckley@bc.edu

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Ted Jelen Best Journal Article in Politics and Religion Award

This award is presented for the best article published in Politics and Religion in the preceding calendar year. Deadlines for Nomination: April 1, 2027

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email
M. Tahir Kilavuz (Chair)	Sabanci University	tahir.kilavuz@sabanciuniv.edu
Taylor Boas	Boston University	tboas@bu.edu
Wayde Z. C. Marsh	University of Tennessee, Knoxville	wmarsh5@utk.edu

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Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar in Religion and Politics Award

The Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar Award recognizes a scholar who has made outstanding contributions to the field of religion and politics. These contributions should be through a combination of excellent and widely influential scholarship, policy input/impact, public engagement, service, teaching, and mentorship.
Deadline for nominations: April 1, 2027

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email
Angelia Wilson (Chair)	University of Manchester	angelia.r.wilson@manchester.ac.uk
Amaney Jamal	Princeton University	ajamal@princeton.edu
Levi Allen	Indiana State University	levi.allen@indstate.edu

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Hubert Morken Best Book in Religion and Politics Award

The Hubert Morken Award is given for the best book dealing with religion and politics published within the previous year. The criteria for the award include the originality of the argument presented, quality of the research, innovative methods, readability of the text and the policy or practical implications of the scholarship. To be eligible for the award, books must have been published in the preceding year. Please send a hard copy to all committee members.
Deadline for nominations: April 1, 2027

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email	Mailing Address
Nandini Deo (Chair)	Georgetown University in Qatar	nandini.deo@georgetown.edu	GUQ office 3700 O St NW Leavey Center, STE 1202 Washington DC 20057
Aala Abdelgadir	University of Pittsburgh	aaa436@pitt.edu	5848 Pierce Street Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Katharine Baldwin	Yale University	katharine.baldwin@yale.edu	Department of Political Science, Yale University, P.O. Box 208301, New Haven, CT 06520-8301

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Aaron Wildavsky Best Dissertation in Religion and Politics Award

APSA Religion and Politics Section invites nominations for the Aaron Wildavsky Dissertation Award. The Aaron Wildavsky Award recognizes the best dissertation in the field of religion and politics. Eligible dissertations have been defended in the last two years, and should make a distinctive contribution to the study of religion and politics, broadly understood. Deadline for nominations: April 1, 2027

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email
John Compton (Chair)	Chapman University	compton@chapman.edu
Stephen Lendway	Stanford University	lendway@stanford.edu
Gwyneth McClendon	New York University	gwyneth.mcclendon@nyu.edu

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Weber Best Conference Paper in Religion and Politics Award

Weber Best Paper in Religion and Politics Award recognizes the best paper dealing with religion and politics presented at the previous year’s APSA Annual Meeting (2026). The paper should address a timely and relevant topic, within the discipline and beyond, in a theoretically innovative and methodologically thorough manner. All papers presented at the 2026 Annual Meeting are eligible, regardless of modality of presentation (i.e. in person, virtual/synchronous, and pre-recorded paper presentations are all eligible). Deadline for nominations: April 1, 2027

Award Committee

Name	Affiliation	Email
Hannah Ridge (Chair)	Chapman University	haridge@chapman.edu
Anil Menon	University of California, Merced	armenon@ucmerced.edu
Alexander Persaud	University of Richmond	apersaud@richmond.edu

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award of the Religion & Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA) recognizes outstanding scholars of religion and politics at the point of retirement (or shortly thereafter) who have made enduring contributions to the field through their scholarship, service, and mentorship. The award is intended to honor recipients who were regular and active Religion & Politics Section members during the periods of their primary contributions to the field. Anticipating that such scholars are exceptional, the call for nominations will remain open, the nominations will be confidential, and the award is not expected to be given every year.

The Award committee will be composed of the Executive Committee of the Religion & Politics Section, chaired by the section chair, to whom nominations shall be addressed. Nominations should be submitted to the section chair by e-mail (at apsa.religion.politics@gmail.com).

Deadline for nominations: April 1, 2027