Religion and Politics
Section Awards
Annual Submission information, including deadlines and selection committee members, can be found on the section Announcements page.
Hubert Morken Best Book 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.
Past Recipients:
2022: Zeynip Bulutgil, The Origins of Secular Institutions: Ideas, Timing, and Organization
2021: Alexander Thurston, Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel
2019: Laura Dudley Jenkins, Religious Freedom and Mass Conversion in India
2019 (Honorable Mention): Carlo Invernizzi-Accitti, What is Christian Democracy? Politics, Religion, and Ideology
2018: Andrew Lewis, The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics: How Abortion Transformed the Culture Wars
2016: Avi Spiegel, Young Islam: The New Politics of Religion in Morocco and the Arab World
2015: Tarek Masoud, Counting Islam: Religion, Class, and Elections in Egypt
2013: Jonathan Laurence, The Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims: The State’s Role in Minority Integration
2011 (co-winner): Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, The Politics of Secularism in International Relations
2011 (co-winner): Vincent Phillip Munoz, God and the Founders: Madison, Washington, and Jefferson
2009: Jason Wittenberg, Crucibles of Political Loyalty: Church Institutions and Electoral Continuity in Hungary
2007: Melissa M. Deckman, School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics
2005: David C. Leege, The Politics of Cultural Differences: Social Change and Voter Mobilization Strategies in the Post-New Deal Period
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Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar 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.
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Weber Best 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 (2023). 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 2023 Annual Meeting are eligible, regardless of modality of presentation (ie. in person, virtual/synchronous, and pre-recorded paper presentations are all eligible).
Aaron Wildavsky Best 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 (2022 or 2023), and should make a distinctive contribution to the study of religion and politics, broadly understood.
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Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award
The Kenneth D. Wald Best Graduate Student Paper Award is 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 2022 or 2023. Papers written with faculty will not be considered. Papers presented at poster sessions are welcome.
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Ted Jelen Best Journal Article Award
This annual award goes to the best paper in the Politics & Religion journal.
Past Recipients:
2023: Gaziza Shakhanova and Petr Kratochvil, “The Patriotic Turn in Russia: Political Convergence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the State”
2022: Joel Day, “Everyday practices of toleration: The Interfaith foundations of peace accords in Sierra Leone”
2021: Ajay Verghese, “Taking Other Religions Seriously: A Comparative Study of Hindus in India”
2020: Paul A. Djupe and Jacob R. Neiheisel, “Political Mobilization in American Congregations: A Religious Economies Perspective”
2019: Elizabeth Sperber and Erin Hern, “Pentecostal Identity and Citizen Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa: New Evidence from Zambia”
2018: Borjan Zic, “The Political Impact of Displacement: Wartime IDPs, Religiosity, and Post-War Politics in Bosnia”
2017: Sarah Allen Gershon, Adrian D. Pantojo, and J. Benjamin Taylor, “God in the Barrio? The Determinants of Religiosity and Civic Engagement among Latinos in the United States”
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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.
Past Recipients:
2023: John C. Green, James L. Guth, Lyman “Bud” Kellstedt, and Corwin E. Smidt