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.
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. The deadline for submission is March 1, 2024.
2023 Winner
Lucia Motolinia Carballo , Washington University in St. Louis. “Trading Pork for Unity: How Parties Respond to Electoral Reforms in Party-Centered Systems” (New York University, 2022).
2023 Selection Committee:
Logan Dancey (Chair), Wesleyan University | ldancey@wesleyan.edu |
LaShonda Brenson, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies | lashonda@jointcenter.org |
Matthew Platt, Morehouse College | matthew.platt@morehouse.edu |
2022 Winner
Michael Kistner , University of Houston. “Fundraising for the Caucus: Money, Party Politics, and Policymaking in American Legislatures” (Princeton University, 2021).
2022 Selection Committee:
Erinn Lauterbach (Chair), University of Virginia | el2db@virginia.edu |
Geoff Lorenz, University of Nebraska, Lincoln | gmlorenz@unl.edu |
Darrian Stacy, United States Naval Academy | stacy@usna.edu |
2021 Winner
Erinn Lauterbach, University of Virginia, for “Punishments, Incentives, and Oversight: How Legislators Turn Preference Into Policy.” (University of California, Riverside, 2020)
2021 Selection Committee:
Lior Sheffer (Chair), Tel Aviv University | liorsheffer@tauex.tau.ac.il |
Sharece Thrower, Vanderbilt University | sharece.d.thrower@vanderbilt.edu |
Danielle M. Thomsen, University of California Irvine | dthomsen@uci.edu |
2020 Winner
Lior Sheffer, Tel Aviv University, for “Behavioural Foundations of Elite Politics: How Individual-Level Characteristics Shape the Decision Making of Elected Politicians” (University of Toronto 2019)
2020 Selection Committee:
Nara Park (Chair), Jeju National University | npark@jejunu.ac.kr |
Daniel Magleby, Binghamton University | dmagleby@binghamton.edu |
La Gina Gause, University of California San Diego | lgause@ucsd.edu |
2019 Winner
Nara Park, The University of Chicago, for “The Nature of Japanese Governance: Seikai-Tensin (政界転身)’s Political Success in Postwar Japan, 1947-2014.” (The University of Chicago 2017).
Selection Committee:
Alison W. Craig, University of Texas at Austin
Melinda Ritchie, University of California, Riverside
Wendy J. Schiller, Brown University
2018 Winner
Alison W. Craig, University of Texas at Austin, for “Crafting a Broad Appeal: Congressional Audiences and Policy Collaboration in the Modern Legislature.” (Ohio State University, 2017).
Selection Committee:
Michelle Whyman, Duke University
Anthony Madonna, University of Georgia
Jason Casellas, University of Houston
2017 Winner
Michelle Whyman of Duke University for, “The Roots of Legislative Durability: How Information, Deliberation, and Compromise Create Laws that Last” (University of Texas, 2016).
Selection committee:
2016 Winner
Molly E. Reynolds of the Brookings Institution for Exceptions to the Rule: Majoritarian Procedures and Majority Party Power in the U.S. Senate (University of Michigan, 2015).
Selection Committee:
Michael Barber, Brigham Young University
Jennifer Clark, University of Houston
Jason Windett, Saint Louis University
2015 Winner
Buying Representation: The Incentives, Ideology, and Influence of Campaign Contributions in American Politics, by Michael Barber, Princeton University, 2014
Selection Committee:
Eitan Tzelgov, University of Gothenburg
Yusaku Horiuchi, Dartmouth College
Leah Murray, Weber State University
2014 Winner
Words as Weapons: Opposition Rhetoric and Partisan Strategy, by Eitan Tzelgov, Pennsylvania State University, 2013
Honorable Mention:
Party, Preferences & Pragmatic Fidelity: Explaining Voting Unity in European Legislatures, by David Willumsen, European Univesity Institute – Florence, 2013
Selection Committee:
Nicholas Carnes, Duke University
Frank Thames, Texas Tech
Gisela Sin, University of Illinois
2013 Winner
By the Upper Class, For the Upper Class? Representational Inequality and Economic Policymaking in the United States, by Nicholas Carnes, Princeton University, 2011.
Selection Committee:
Georg Vanberg (chair), University of North Carolina
Kathleen Bratton, Louisiana State University
James Curry, University of Utah
2012 Winner
Information Control: Leadership Power in the U.S. House of Representatives, by James Curry, University of Maryland, 2011.
Selection Committee:
Chris Den Hartog (chair), California Polytechnic State University
Kathryn C. Lavelle, Case Western Reserve University
Amber Wichowsky, Marquette University
2011 Winner
The Competitive Cure: The Consequences of Competitive Congressional Elections, by Amber Wichowsky, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2010.
Selection Committee:
Alan Wiseman (chair), Vanderbilt University
Patrick Egan, New York University
Elizabeth Oldmixon, University of North Texas
2010 Winner
Issue Ownership and Representation in American Politics, by Patrick Egan, University of California, Berkeley, 2008.
Selection Committee:
Robin Kolodny (chair), Temple University
Tom Clark, Emory University
Andrew Taylor, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
2009 Winner
The Politics of Judicial Independence: Court Curbing and the Separation of Powers, by Tom Clark, Princeton University, 2008.
Selection Committee:
Christine Degregorio (chair), American University
Rob Salmond, University of Michigan
Sean Theriault, University of Texas, Austin
2008 Winner
Parliamentary Question Times: How Legislative Accountability Mechanisms Affect Citizens and Politics, by Rob Salmon, University of California, Los Angeles, 2007.
Selection Committee:
Kathryn Pearson (chair), University of Minnesota
Elizabeth Oldmixon, University of North Texas
Kim Quaile Hill, Texas A&M University
2007 Winner
No award given
2006 Winner
Party Discipline in the Contemporary Congress: Rewarding Loyalty in Theory and Practice, by Kathryn Pearson, University of California, Berkeley, 2005.
Selection Committee:
Gail McElroy (chair), Trinity College, Dublin
Robert Van Houweling, University of California, Berkeley
Scott Adler, Unviersity of Colorado, Boulder
2005 Winners
In Pursuit of Party Discipline: Committees and Cohesion in the European Parliament, by Gail McElroy, University of Rochester, 2004.
and
Legislators’ Personal Policy Preferences and Partisan Legislative Organization, by Robert Van Houweling, Harvard University, 2003
Selection Committee:
Christian Grose (chair), Lawrence University
Noelle Norton, University of San Diego
John R. Wright, Ohio State University
2004 Winner
Beyond the Vote: A Theory of Black Representation in Congress, by Christian Robert Grose, University of Rochester, 2003.
Selection Committee:
Bruce Oppenheimer, Vanderbilt University
Brian R. Sala, University of California, Davis
Christine DeGregorio
2003 Winner
No Award Given
2002 Winner
When Candidates Attack: The Effects of Negative Campaigning on Voter Turnout in Senate Elections, by Deborah Jordan Brooks, Yale University, 2001.
Selection Committee:
John B. Gilmour, College of William and Mary
Diana Evans, Trinity College
Thomas F. Remington, Emory University
2001 Winner
From the Year of the Woman to the Republican Ascendancy: Evaluating the Policy Impact of Women in Congress, by Michele Lynn Swers, Harvard University, 2000.
Selection Committee:
Jon Bond (chair), Texas A&M, College Station
Susan Hammond, American University
Gerald Gamm, Rochester University
2000 Winner
Explaining Institutional Change: The Rise and Impact of Omnibus Legislating, by Glen Krutz, Texas A & M University, 1999.
Selection Committee:
Linda Fowler (chair), Dartmouth University
Frances Lee, Case Western Reserve University
Paul Gronke, Duke University
1999 Winner
Shaping Perceptions of Congress through Franked Mass Mailings: An Examination of the Communication Strategies Used by members of the United States House of Representatives in the 1990s, by Daniel William Lipinski, Duke University, 1998.
Selection Committee:
Michael Mezey (chair), DePaul University
David Canon, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Gary Moncrief, Boise State University