AWARDS FOR THE BEST COMPARATIVE PAPER AT PARTNER ASSOCIATIONS CONFERENCES 

The JCPA and ICPA Society extend the Joint Awards for the Best Comparative Paper at several partner association conferences to advance high scholarly standards and encourage significant contributions to the field. We extend to the winners a certificate and a monetary award. The articles are chosen by Joint International Adjudication Committees.

Best Comparative Paper Awards Committee Members – 2024/2025 Cycle

It is with gratitude of the entire scholarly community, that we thank the following Award Committee Members:

JCPA – APPAM Award Committee Members

  1.  Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Columbia University, USA
  2.  Marleen Brans, KU Leuven, Belgium
  3.  Kenneth Couch, University of Connecticut, USA

JCPA – APSA Award Committee Members

  1.  Johanna Hornung, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
  2.  Natalie Bueno, Emory University, USA
  3.  Alex Osei-Kojo, University of Tennessee, USA

JCPA – EGPA Award Committee Members

  1.  Sonja Blum, Bielefeld University, Germany
  2.  Ellen Fobé, KU Leuven, Belgium
  3.  Anat Gofen, Hebrew University, Israel
  4.  Céline Mavrot, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
  5.  Nadine Raaphorst, Leiden University, The Netherlands
  6.  Bishoy Zaki, Gent University, Belgium

JCPA – NISPAcee Awards Committee Members

  1.  B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh, USA
  2.  Juraj Nemec, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
  3.  Janderová Jana, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic
  4.  Ana Cecilia De Alba González, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico

JCPA – CLAD Awards Committee Members

  1. Osmany Porto de Oliveira, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil
  2. Michelle Morais de Sa e Silva, University of Oklahoma, USA
  3. Pablo Alberto Bulcourf, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
  4. Daniel Cravacuore, University of Jaén, Spain

JCPA – Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) Awards Committee Members

  1.  Charles Blake, James Madison University, USA (Chair)
  2.  Klaus Schubert, University of Muenster, Germany

JCPA – IPSA Awards Committee Members

RC30 (Comparative Public Policy)

  1.  Michael Howlett (Chair), Simon Fraser University, Canada
  2.  Darryl Jarvis, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, China
  3.  Giliberto Capano, University of Bologna, Italy

RC05 (Comparative Studies of Local Govt. & Politics, IPSA)

  1.  Fred Lazin, New York University, USA
  2.  Norbert Kersting, University of Muenster, Germany

JCPA – NASPAA Award Committee Members

  1. Susan Appe, University at Albany, SUNY
  2. Sebastián Líppez De Castro, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
  3. Sean McCandless, University of Illinois at Springfield
  4. Iris Geva-May, Founding Editor-in-Chief and President, JCPA and ICPA Society
  5. Beth M. Rauhaus, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi

Joint International Adjudication Committee of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA) includes: Professors Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Columbia University, USA; Marleen Brans, KU Leuven, Belgium; and Kenneth Couch, University of Connecticut, USA.

2025 Award Winner will be announced in November 2026.

Past Awards

2024 Award Winner: “Cognitive Impacts of AI on Administration” by Dr. Kyoung-cheol (Casey) Kim, University of Georgia, USA.

2022 Award Winner: “Immigration, Government Type, and Social Welfare Spending” by Hang Qi, University of Missouri, USA. 

2021 Award Winner: “Life-Cycle Dynamics and Developmental Processes in Collaborative Partnerships: Examples from four watersheds in the U.S.” by Mark T. Imperial, University of North Carolina, USA.

2020 Award Winner: “The Political Development of Public Policy – Political Controversy, Partisanship, and Health Care for the Poor: A Comparative Analysis of U.S. Policies, 1965-1989” by Emily Parker, Cornell University, USA. 

2019 Award Winners: “Empowering Women in South Asia’s informal settlements: The Challenges of Environmental Degradation” by Amit Patel, University of Massachusetts Boston;  Ammar A. Malik, Urban Institute; Marcia D. Mundt, and Hyunjung Lee, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA; Hina Lotia and Muhammad Arshed Rafiq, LEAD Pakistan.

“Are We Digging in the Wrong Place? Age, Period, and Cohort Explanations for Changing Crime Rates”, by William Spelman, University of Texas at Austin, USA.

No award was given in 2017 and 2018. 

2016 Award Winner: “Toward a Comparative Analysis of Labour Administration Systems”, by Jason Heyes, Work, Organisation & Employment Relations Research Centre, Sheffield University Management School, United Kingdom.

2015 Award Winners:
“Independent Professional Bureaucracies and Street-Level Corruption: Evidence from Latin America”, by Laura Langbein, American University, and Pablo Sanabria, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali, Colombia.

2014 Award Winners:
“Global Expansion of Renewable Energy Generation: An Analysis of Policy Instruments”, by Sanya Carley, Jennifer Brass, Elizabeth Baldwin, and Lauren M. MacLean, Indiana University, USA.

Award winners also found on APPAM’s site.

2013 Award Winner: 
“Smoke Signals: State Policy Responses to National Government Discussions”, by Pamela Clouser McCann (University of Washington), Charles R. Shipan (University of Michigan), and Craig Volden (University of Virginia, USA). 

2012 Award Winner: 
“Factors in Low-Carbon Energy Transformations: Comparing Nuclear and Bioenergy in Brazil, Sweden, and the United States”, by Nathan E. Hultman (University of Maryland), Elizabeth L. Malone, Paul Runci, Gregory Carlock, Kate L. Anderson (Joint Global Change Research Institute, USA).

2011 Award Winner: “Intergenerational Mobility in the United States and Great Britain: A Comparative Study of Parent Child Pathways”, by Jo Blanden (University of Surrey), Kathryn Wilson (Kent State University), Robert Haveman (University of Wisconsin–Madison), and Timothy Smeeding (University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA).

2010 Award Winner: 
“Economic Mobility, Family Background, and the Well-being of Children in the United States and Canada”, by Miles Corak (City University of New York, USA), Lori Curtis (University of Waterloo, Canada), and Shelley Phipps (Dalhousie University, Canada).

2009 Award Winner: 
“The Effect of Same-Sex Marriage Laws on Different-Sex Marriage: Evidence from the Netherlands”, by Mircea Trandafir, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark-

Joint International Adjudication Committee of the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA) and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA) includes: Professors Sonja Blum, Bielefeld University, Germany; Ellen Fobé, KU Leuven, Belgium; Anat Gofen, Hebrew University, Israel; Céline Mavrot, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Nadine Raaphorst, Leiden University, The Netherlands; and Bishoy Zaki, Gent University, Belgium. 

2025 EGPA Conference – PSG XIII: Public Policy and PSG XXI: Policy Design and Evaluation

Award Winner: “Learning from Policy Experiments” by Professors Ringa Raudla and Külli Sarapuu; Dr. Johanna Vallistu and Kerli Onno, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia. See photos of the award ceremony here.

Past Awards

2023 EGPA Conference – PSG XIII: Public Policy and PSG XXI: Policy Design and Evaluation

Award Winner:  “The Voice of Implementation: Exploring the Link between Implementation Feedback and Environmental Effectiveness”, by Christina Steinbacher (Ludwig-Maximilians, Geschwister-Scholl-Institute of Political Science).

2021 EGPA Conference – PSG XIII: Public Policy and PSG XXI: Policy Design and Evaluation

Award Winner:  Evaluations of International Organizations: A ‘Gold Standard’ of Institutional Assessment?” by Elena Leuschner (University of Gothenburg), Steffen Eckhard, Vytautas Jankauskas, and Rita Sevastjanova (University of Konstanz).

2018 EGPA Conference – PSG XIII: Public Policy and PSG XXI: Policy Design and Evaluation

Award Winner: “E-Government and corruption” by Daphne Athanasouli (Derby).

Joint International Adjudication Committee of the American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA) includes: Professors Johanna Hornung, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Natalie Bueno, Emory University, USA; and Alex Osei-Kojo, University of Tennessee, USA.

2025 Award Winner: “Getting on the Grid: A Field Experiment on Bottom-Up Political Pressure and Access to Essential Public Services” by Nikhar Gaikwad, Columbia University and Anjali Thomas, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. See photos of the award ceremony here.

Past Awards

2024 Award Winner: “Benefits by luck: A study of lotteries as a selection method for government programs” by Doctors Natalia Bueno, Emory University, USA; Felipe Nunes, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA; and Cesar Zucco, Getulio Vargas Foundation, Brazil.

2019 Award Winner: “Democracy and Educational Expansion: Evidence from 200 years” by Agustina Paglayan, UC San Diego, USA.

2018 Award Winner: “Incentivizing Higher Skills – But Whose? The Politics of Credential Reform in Liberal Market Economies” by Amelia Peterson, Harvard University, USA.

2017 Award Winner: “Political Context, Organizational Mission and the Quality of Social Services: Insights from the Health Sector in Lebanon” by Melani Cammett, Harvard University, USA, and Aytug Sasmaz, Brown University, USA.

2016 Award Winner: “Misperceiving Inequality” by Vladimir Gimpelson National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia, and Daniel Treisman University of California, Los Angeles, United States.

2015 Award Winner: “Micro-level Foundations of Diffusion Theory: Experimental Evidence” by Zachary Elkins, University of Texas at Austin, United States.

2014 Award Winner: “The Impact of Recentralization on Public Services: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis of the Abolition of Elected Councils in Vietnam” by Edmund J. Malesky, Duke University, United States; Cuong Viet Nguyen, National Economics University, Vietnam, and Anh Tran, Indiana University, United States; and “Global Capital Markets, Housing Prices, and Partisan Fiscal Policies” by Ben W. Ansell, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; J. Lawrence Broz, University of California, United States.

2013 Award Winner: “The Dynamics of Electoral Incentives. Electoral Systems and Agricultural Support in OECD countries” by Matthias Orlowski, Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany; and “Taxing the Financing of Social Protection as a Means for Ousting Unions” by Louise Hervier, Sciences Po, Paris, France.

2012 Award Winner: Claire Annesley, University of Manchester, United Kingdom and Isabelle Engeli, University of Ottawa, Canada

2011 Award Winner: “Opinion-Responsiveness of Governing Agendas in the US and the UK: Institutional Filtering of Issue Priorities of the Public” by Shaun Bevan, Pennsylvania State University, United States and Will Jennings, University of Manchester, United Kingdom; and “Political Parties and Policy Change: Explaining the Impact of French and German Greens on Energy Policy” by Aurelien Evrard, Sciences Po, Paris, France.

2009 Award Winner: “Convergence from Below: A Sociology of the Reception of Transfer in Public Health Policies in Europe” by Carole Clavier, Montreal University, Canada.

Joint International Adjudication Committee of the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee) and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA) includes: Professors B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh, USA; Juraj Nemec, Masaryk University, Czech Republic; Janderová Jana, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic; and Ana Cecilia De Alba González, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico.

2025 Award Winner: “Politically robust government responses to Covid-19? Comparing government responses in five European countries” by Doctors Eva Sørensen, Tiziana Caponio, and Peter Triantafillou (Roskilde University, Denmark), György Hajnal (Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary), Tiina Randma-Liiv (University of Tallinn, Estonia), and David Spaček (Masaryk University, Czech Republic); and “Personalist Leadership and Corruption: Evidence from Third Wave Democracies” by Tatiana Kostadinova and Milena I. Neshkova (Florida International University, USA). 

Past Awards

2023 Award Winner: “Comparative Analysis of The Sports´ Public Funding Systems Effectivity in The European Union” by Jozef Kučera, Matej Bel University, Slovakia.

2022 Award Winner: “Social media use in Central and Eastern European cities: Defining government-citizen relationships through phases” by Raphaėl Zumofen (University of Lausanne), Vincent Mabillard (Universite Libre de Bruxelles), Martial Pasquier (University of Lausanne). 

2021 Award Winner: “Still Hiding in the Shadows? Political Advisers in Central and Eastern Europe” by Katarina Staroňová (University of Comenius, Slovakia) and Marek Rybář (Masaryk Univ. Brno, Czech Republic).

2019 Award Winner: “Financial bureaucracies of Europe: Finance Officers’ Attitudes Regarding their Responsibilities and Roles” by Ringa Raudla (Tallinn University), James W. Douglas and  Jason H. Windett, (University of North Carolina at Charlotte).

2018 Award Winner:“Policy Learning from Crisis in Financial Regulation and Supervision: Overcoming Coordination Challenges” by Ringa Raudla, Egert Juuse, Aleksandrs Cepilovs, Ragnar Nurkse (University of Tallinn); and “The Political Business Cycle in Policies of Tariffs for Local Public Services: A Comparison of Poland and Bulgaria” by Paweł Swianiewicz and Anna Kurniewicz (University of Warsaw) and Desislava Kalcheva, (University of National and World Economy). 

2017 Award Winner: “Citizen use of government eServices: Comparing use, governance and cooperation models in Estonia and Georgia” by Morten Meyerhoff Nielsen (University of Tallinn); and “The Comparison of Bulgaria and the Czech Republic in the Identification of Corruption Risk” by Michal Plaček, Milan Půček, and František Ochrana (Charles University, Czech Republic).

2016 Award Winner: “Fiscal Crisis and Expenditure Cuts: The Influence of Public Management Practices on Cutback Strategies in Europe” by Ringa Raudla (Tallinn University of Technology), James W. Douglas (University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Tiina Randma-Liiv and Riin Savi (Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia).

2015 Award Winner: “The Construction of Regulations in Slovenia and Croatia – Material and Procedural Aspects Between Public and Private Interests” by Tatjana Jovanovic (University of Ljubljana), Aleksander Aristovnik (University of Ljubljana) and Tereza Rogic Lugaric (University of Zagreb).

2014 Award Winner: “The Role of Agencies and Street-Level Bureaucrats in Cutback Management: Comparing the Cases of Estonia and Latvia” by Riin Savi and Aleksandrs Cepilov, (Tallinn University of Technology); and “Politics of Fiscal Consolidation in Europe: A Comparative Analysis” by Walter Kickert, (Erasmus University), Tiina Randma-Liiv (Tallinn University of Technology), and Riin Savi, (Tallinn University of Technology).

2013 Award Winner: “Ex post control and steering of government agencies in Lithuania and Romania” by Vitalis Nakrošis, Žilvinas Martinaitis (Vilnius University); Calin Hintea, Dan Balica, and Adrian Hudrea (Babes-Bolyai University).

2012 Award Winner: “Pluralism in Public Administration and Shared Values: The Baltic countries” by Karin Hilmer Pedersen and Lars Johannsen (Aarhus University). 

2011 Award Winner: “Post EU accession reforms in Central and Eastern European countries: Who will (continue to) bother?” by Veronica Junjan (University of Twente), Diana-Camelia Iancu ( National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania). 

Joint International Adjudication Committee of the Centro Latinoamericano de Administración para el Desarrollo (CLAD) and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA) includes: Professors Osmany Porto de Oliveira, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil Michelle Morais de Sa e Silva, University of Oklahoma, USA Pablo Alberto Bulcourf, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina Daniel Cravacuore, University of Jaén, Spain.

2025 CLAD Conference in Asuncion, Paraguay in November 2025

Award Winner is Dr. Carlos Miguel Rodrigues de Caires of Universidad Austral de Chile with his paper: “El diseño de las políticas de transparencia presupuestaria en América Latina: un análisis comparado”.

The JCPA-CLAD Joint International Adjudication Committee in 2025 included: Professors Michelle Morais de Sa e Silva (University of Oklahoma, USA), Pablo Alberto Bulcourf(Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Argentina), Daniel Cravacuore (National University of Quilmes, Argentina), and Mercedes Iacoviello (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina).

During 2023, a partnership agreement was signed between the Latin American Association of Political Science (ALACIP) and its Research Group on Comparative Public Policy (GIPPC-ALACIP). This agreement seeks to jointly promote the activities of the ICPA Society and the JCPA within the Ibero-American space. It will also enable colleagues from Latin America to submit their papers for the ‘Award for the Best Comparative Paper’ in the call for the Latin American Congress of Political Science.

Joint International Adjudication Committee Members of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA), include: Susan Appe, Chair (University of Albany), Sebastián Líppez De Castro (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana), Sean McCandless (Illinois at Springfield), Iris Geva-May, Founding Editor-in-Chief and President (JCPA), Beth M. Rauhaus (University of Texas A&M). 

Past Awards

2022 Award Winner: “Teaching Introduction to NGOs through a Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention Lens” by David Campbell, Binghamton University, USA.

2021 Award Winner: “Racial Equity as Public Service: Teaching About Systemic Racism and Government Attempts to Facilitate Racial Equity through a Comparative Policy Lens” by Deborah Bailey, Harvard University, USA.

The Joint International Adjudication Committee of Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA), include Professors Charles Blake (James Madison University, Chair), Christoffer Green-Pedersen (Aarhus University), and Klaus Schubert (University of Muenster).

Past Awards

2016 Award Winner: “Mass Administrative Reorganization, Media Attention, and the Paradox of Information” by Anthony M. Bertelli and J. Andrew Sinclair, New York University, USA.

2015 Award Winner: “Ripples from the First Wave: The Monarchical Origins of the Welfare State” by Eileen McDonagh, Northeastern University, USA.

2014 Award Winner: “The Impact of Recentralization on Public Services: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis of the Abolition of Elected Councils in Vietnam” by Edmund J. Malesky (Duke University, USA), Cuong Viet Nguyen (National Economics University, Vietnam), and Anh Tran (Indiana University, USA).

2013 Award Winner: “Strength of Fiscal Bureaucracy and Budget Changes” by Carla M. Flink, Texas A&M University, USA.

The Joint International Adjudication Committee of the RC30 Comparative Public Policy section of the International Political Science Association and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA), include Professors Michael Howlett (Simon Fraser University, Chair), Darryl Jarvis (The Hong Kong Institute of Education), and Giliberto Capano (University of Bologna).

Past Awards

2014 Award Winner: “Successes or Failures of ‘Developmental’ Policies, Rent and Conditionality: Comparing Russia and Sub-Saharan Africa” by Caroline Dufy, Sciences Po Bordeaux-Peoples’ Friendship University, Centre Emile Durkheim, Sciences-Po Bordeaux, France and Alice Nicole Sindzingre, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS, France).

The Joint International Adjudication Committee of the AFSP and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (JCPA), include Professors Monika Steffen (University of Grenoble, Chair), Céline Belot (University of Grenoble), Charlotte Halpern (University of Grenoble), Philippe Zittoun (University of Lyon), and Christine Rothmayr Allison (University of Montreal).

Past Awards

2015 Award Winner: “La citoyenneté sociale des jeunes adultes en Europe” – “Social Citizenship of Young Adults in Europe” by Tom Chevalier, Science Po, Paris, France.

2013 Award Winner: “Taxing the Financing of Social Protection as a Means for Ousting Unions” by Louise Hervier, Sciences Po, Paris, France.

2011 Award Winner: “Political Parties and Policy Change: Explaining the Impact of French and German Greens on Energy Policy” by Aurelien Evrard, Sciences Po, Paris, France.

2009 Award Winner: “Convergence from Below: A Sociology of the Reception of Transfer in Public Health Policies in Europe” by Carole Clavier, Montreal University, Canada.