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Formal Theory (Section 52)

The Formal Theory Section of the American Political Science Association is a forum for scholars who use formal theory in their research. The scholarship of the Section’s membership spans substantive subfields and formal approaches. The Section supports and advocates on behalf of its members by, for example, organizing panels at the annual meeting, conducting business meetings of the Section membership, facilitating communication among members, providing relevant resources for teaching and research, and working to broaden the appeal and accessibility of formal theoretic research.

Founded: 2020

Website: formaltheorysociety.com

Twitter: @FormalTheory

Section Counts

Section Membership Dues

StudentRegular
$0 $25

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Section Officers

Section Officers

Chair
Mehdi Shadmehr, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Annual Meeting Division Chair
Zhaotian Luo, University of Chicago
Annual Meeting Division Chair
Amna Salam, UCSD
Treasurer
Lewis Luartz, Chapman University
Vice Chair
Elizabeth Penn, Emory University

Section Awards

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 52. Formal Theory awards to-date »

Journal of Theoretical Politics Ostrom Award

This award is given to the author(s) of the best article published in the Journal of Theoretical Politics within the previous two calendar years (2024, 2025). To be eligible for this award, an article must have appeared in an issue of JTP during one of these two years. OnlineFirst articles are not eligible for nomination, but they may be later nominated for the year in which they appear in an issue of JTP. Due Date: March 1, 2026

NameAffiliationEmail
Natalia Garbiras-DiazHarvard Universityngarbirasdiaz@hbs.edu
Alex HirschCalifornia Institute of Technologyavhirsch@hss.caltech.edu
Federica IzzoVanderbilt Universityfederica.izzo@vanderbilt.edu
In Song KimMassachusetts Institute of Technologyinsong@mit.edu

Best Article by a Non-Tenured Scholar

This award is given to the author(s) of the best paper published in 2025 by a non-tenured scholar. To be eligible for this award, an article must have been published during 2025 and the recipient must not have tenure on the date the article is first published on a journal’s website. An article may only be nominated once and it may be nominated for either the year in which it is first published on a journal’s website (e.g., as an “OnlineFirst” or “FirstView” article) or the year in which it appears in a print issue (but not both). Due Date: March 1, 2026

NameAffiliationEmail
Hülya EraslanRice Universityeraslan@rice.edu
Justin FoxWashington University in St. Louisjustin.fox@wustl.edu
German GieczewskiPrinceton Universitygermang@princeton.edu
Bahar LeventogluDuke Universitybahar.leventoglu@duke.edu

Best Article 

This award is given to the author(s) of the best paper published in 2025. To be eligible for this award, an article must have been published during 2025. An article may only be nominated once and it may be nominated for either the year in which it is first published on a journal’s website (e.g., as an “OnlineFirst” or “FirstView” article) or the year in which it appears in a print issue (but not both). Due Date: March 1, 2026

NameAffiliationEmail
Avidit AcharyaStanford Universityavidit@stanford.edu
Arjada BardhiNew York Universityarjada.bardhi@nyu.edu
Susan HydeUniversity of California, Berkeleysusanhyde@berkeley.edu
Arturas RozenasNew York Universityar199@nyu.edu

Best APSA Paper

This award is given to the author(s) of the best paper presented at APSA in 2025. To be eligible for this award, a paper must have been presented during the 2025 APSA Annual Meeting. Due Date: March 1, 2026

NameAffiliationEmail
Peter BuisseretHarvard Universitypbuisseret@fas.harvard.edu
Michael GibiliscoCalifornia Institute of TechnologyMichael.Gibilisco@caltech.edu
Branislav SlantchevUniversity of California, San Diegobslantchev@ucsd.edu
Elaine YaoWashington University in St. Louiseyao@wustl.edu