The APSA Class and Inequality section invites nominations for four awards: a best book award, a best dissertation award and two awards for papers presented at the 2023 APSA annual meeting.
Self-nominations, including from students, are welcome and encouraged.
To make a nomination, please email the chair of the Awards committee (noted below) and copy William Franko (Awards Committee Chair). Nominations are due by April 1, 2024. Please include the name of the award in the subject line of your email. Attach the nominated paper or dissertation to your email.
Best Book on Class and Inequality
Awards Committee:
Charles Crabtree, Dartmouth College (chair), crabtreedcharles@gmail.com
Ken Meier, American University, kmeier@american.edu
Patrick Flavin, Baylor University, Patrick_J_Flavin@baylor.edu
Best Dissertation on Class and Inequality
The dissertation will be chosen from among those completed by graduate student Section members in the preceding calendar year. In 2024, the committee will consider dissertations defended in 2023. (Note that nominated authors must be members of the Class & Inequality section.)
Award committee:
Charlotte Cavaille, University of Michigan (chair), cavaille@umich.edu
Christopher Tyler Burks, Samford University, cburks1@samford.edu
Mallory E. SoRelle, Duke University, mallory.sorelle@duke.edu
Best Paper on Class and Inequality
For the best paper presented at a panel sponsored (or co-sponsored) by the Class and Inequality Section at the 2023 APSA annual meeting. Please be sure to submit conference version of paper.
Award committee:
Alexander Sahn, UNC-Chapel Hill (chair), sahn@unc.edu
Annabelle Hutchinson, University of Utah, annabellehutch@gmail.com
Elizabeth Mitchell Elder, Stanford University, emelder@stanford.edu
Best Paper on Social and Economic Inequality
For the best paper on the intersection of social and economic inequality presented at any panel – including those not hosted by the Class and Inequality section – at the 2023 APSA annual meeting. Please be sure to submit conference version of paper.
Award committee:
Susan Kang, City University of New York (chair), skang@jjay.cuny.edu
Cody Melcher, Loyola University New Orleans, crmelche@loyno.edu
Sophie Jacobson, Columbia University, sjb2252@columbia.edu
Previous Winners
Faricy Graduate Student Travel Award
2022: Aduago Pamela Nwakanma (Harvard)
Best Book on Class and Inequality Award
2022: Andreas Wiedemann (Princeton University)
Indebted Societies: Credit and Welfare in Rich Democracies (Cambridge University Press)
Honorable Mention: Meghan Condon (Loyola University Chicago) & Amber Wichowsky (Marquette University)
The Economic Other: Inequality in the American Political Imagination (University of Chicago Press)
Award Committee: Marko Klasnja, Emma Saunders-Hastings, and Rune Stubager
Best Dissertation on Class and Inequality Award
2023: Britta van Staaluduinen (Harvard University)
“Ethnic Inequality in the Welfare State”
Honorable Mention: Dakota E. Park-Ozee (University of Texas at Austin)
“What Does Money Mean? Frames of Wealth and Economic Identity in U.S. Politics, 1980-2020”
Award Committee: Michael Barber, Allison Hartnett, and Michael Shepherd
2022: Michael E. Shepherd Jr. (University of Texas at Austin)
“Unhealthy Democracy: How Partisan Politics is Killing Rural America”
Award Committee: Christian Breunig, Asli Cansunar, and Christina Farhart
Best Paper Award
2023: Ari Ray (University of Geneva)
“When Identity Trumps Class: Women, Workers, and Statistical Representation Under Low Party Gate-Keeping”
Award Committee: Elizabeth Suhay, Chenoa Yorgason, and Miguel Pereira
2022: Chenoa Yorgason (Stanford University)
“Campaign finance vouchers do not reduce donor inequality”
Award Committee: Frederick Solt, Patricia Kirkland, and Lucia Motolinia
2021: Lucia Motolinia (NYU), Marko Klašnja (Georgetown), and Simon Weschle (Syracuse), “The Political Selection Effects of Campaign Finance Rules”
Award Committee: Kris-Stella Trump, Christopher Ojeda, and Patricia Posey
2020: Alexander Sahn (Berkeley), “Why is Housing Unaffordable? The Great Migration’s Effect on Exclusionary Zoning“
Award Committee: Michael Donnelly, Adam Thal, and Natalie Giger
2019: Adam Thal, “Status Update: Social Media and the Economic Policy Preferences of Affluent Americans”
Award Committee: Marko Klašnja and Karen Long-Jusko
2018: Elizabeth Suhay, Marko Klašnja, and Gonzalo Rivero, “Ideology of Affluence: Explanations for Inequality and Political Attitudes among Rich Americans”
Award Committee: Ray La Raja and Elizabeth Rigby
2017: Brian Schaffner, Jesse Rhodes, and Ray La Raja, “Understanding Inequality and Representation in Local Politics”
Award Committee: Tali Mendelberg and Eleanor Neff Powell
2016: Tali Mendelberg, Katherine McCabe, and Adam Thal, “The Rich are Different from You and Me: How Wealthy Student Bodies Foster Economically Conservative Students”; and Eleanor Neff Powell, “Legislative Consequences of Fundraising Influence”
Award Committee: Jacob Hacker, Marty Gilens, and Peter Enns
Best Paper on Social & Economic Inequality
2023: Jaewook Lee (McGill University)
“Luddite or Technophile? Policy Preference for Governing Technology-Driven Change”
Award Committee: Joshua James, Gabriele Magni, and LaGina Gause
2022: Nirvikar Jassal (Stanford University)
“Does Victim Gender Matter for Justice Delivery? Evidence from Women’s Complaints in India”
Award Committee: Kris-Stella Trump, Alice Xu, and Joshua Robison
2021: Alice Xu (Harvard), “Segregation and the Spatial Externalities of Inequality: A Theory of Collateral Cooperation for Public Goods in Cities”
Award Committee: Amber Wichowsky, Jennifer Erkulwater, and Jesse Rhodes
Best Paper on Entrepreneurship & Inclusion
2022 Kauffman Faculty Award: Allison Spencer Hartnett (University of Southern California) & Mohamed Saleh (University of Toulouse Capitole)
“Intra-Elite Conflict and Demands for Power-Sharing: Evidence from Khedival Egypt”
2022 Kauffman Graduate Student Award: Aduago Pamela Nwakanma (Harvard University)
“The Gendered Economics of Political Empowerment: Lessons from Nigeria, Africa’s Largest Economy”
Award Committee: Anita Manion, James Conran, and Abhit Bhandari
2021 Kauffman Award: James K. Conran (University of Oregon), “Work Time Regimes and the Comparative Political Economy of the Gender Pay Gap”
Award Committee: Daniel Stegmuller, Janice Fine, and Simon Weschle
2020 Kauffman Award: Tanushree Goyal (Oxford), “How Women Mobilize Women into Politics: A Natural Experiment in India“
Award Committee: Neil Malhotra, Jessica Trounstine, Dan Rubenson, Linda White, and Laura Bucci
2019 Kauffman Faculty Award: Alex Gourevitch, “Political Theory of the Entrepreneur”
2019 Kauffman Graduate Student Award: Pamela Nwakanma, “Women, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development in Africa”
Award Committee: Chris Witko and David Broockman
Graduate Student Poster Session Award
2019 Best Poster on Economic Inequality: Josh McCrain, “Legislative Staff and Inequality in Representation”
2019 Best Poster on Social Inequality: Christine Slaughter, “Contextual and Persistent: Poverty, Empowerment, and Engagement among African Americans”
Award Committee: Jake Grumbach, Cecilia Mo, and Jesse Rhodes
View our blog post about the 2019 poster reception, which includes pictures from the event.
Outstanding Member Award
For a member deemed by the Section Officers to have made an exceptional contribution to the Section in the previous year.
2016: Martin Gilens
Award Committee: Nicholas Carnes, Meredith Sadin, Chris Faricey