Supported by the Center for the Study of Federalism, this biennial award is given to living, recognized scholars whose publications continue to make significant and major contributions to our understanding and appreciation of the history, theory, and/or practice of federalism in single or multiple countries and/or transnational arrangements, such as the European Union. The award shall be for distinguished work done specifically on federalism and federations. The award is presented at the RC28 business meeting held during each IPSA World Congress.
The award is made by the RC28 Executive Board upon nominations by RC28 members. Nomination instructions are circulated to members by email.
For more information on the award, visit the RC28 Committee on Comparative Federalism and Multilevel Governance website.
Award Recipient
2023 Jill Vickers
Jill Vickers, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is an Emeritus Chancellor's Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa where she taught political science, women's studies and Canadian studies over three decades. She is co/author or editor of ten books and over 55 articles that explore how gender, race, nations and nationalisms interact with state constitutions and architectures, notably federalism. She pioneered gender and federalism research by organizing workshops, editing books, and special issues of in Publius and in Politics and Gender. Her most recent book with Professors Joan Grace and Cheryl N. Collier is the 2020, Handbook on Gender, Diversity and Federalism (Edward Elgar). She remains an active researcher publishing recent articles exploring how the interaction between gender and federalism affects the many components of family law across federations including "Regulating Family Law in Federations: The Impact of De/Centralization, Religion, and International Treaties on Abortion and Child Marriage Policies" in Publius, Vol 53, Issue 1 (published May 2022) , Winter 2023.
2020 Thomas O. Hueglin
Thomas O. Hueglin is Professor of Political Science at Wilfried Laurier University in Waterloo, ON, Canada, and he was previously affiliated with Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, Canada. His PhD is from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and he did his Habilitation at the University of Konstanz, Germany. He has held visiting appointments at the universities of Mannheim and Darmstadt in Germany and at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. He has advised Canada’s Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Constitutional Drafting Commission of the Republic of Yemen. His numerous publications include Comparative Federalism: A Systematic Inquiry (with Alan Fenna, 2nd ed. 2015), Classical Debates for the 21st Century: Rethinking Political Thought (2008), Early Modern Concepts for a Late Modern World: Althusius on Community and Federalism (1999) and articles in Publius: The Journal of Federalism, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, and Canadian Public Administration. His book on Federalism in Canada will be published early in 2021.
2018 Arthur Benz
Arthur Benz is Professor of Political Science at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. He was previously affiliated with the University of Hagen, the Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg, the University of Konstanz, and the German University of Administrative Sciences in Speyer. He has held visiting appointments at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, Tongij University of Shanghai, China, and the Institute for Advanced Study Konstanz. In 2003-04 he was a member of the Joint Bundestag-Bundesrat Commission on the Reform of the German Federation. In 2007 he received the John G. Diefenbaker Award. Among his numerous publications are Constitutional Politics in Multilevel Government (2016), Federal Dynamics (ed. with J. Broschek, 2013), Politik in Mehrebenensystemen (2009), Kooperative Verwaltung (1994), Horizontale Politikverflechtung (with F. W. Scharpf and R. Zintl, 1992), Modernisierung der Staatsorganisation (with J. J. Hesse, 1990), Föderalismus als dynamisches System (1985), and articles in European Political Science Review, Journal of European Public Policy, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, West European Politics, German Politics, and Regional and Federal Studies.
2016 John Kincaid
John Kincaid is the Robert B. & Helen S. Meyner Professor of Government and Public Service and Director of the Meyner Center for the Study of State and Local Government at Lafayette College, PA, USA. He is an elected fellow of the US National Academy of Public Administration, was editor of Publius: The Journal of Federalism, and the Executive Director of the US Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. He has recently co-authored articles in Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Public Administration Review, and PS: Political Science and Politics and co-edited Courts in Federal Countries (University of Toronto Press, 2017), Political Parties and Civil Society in Federal Countries (Oxford University Press, 2015) and Intergovernmental Relations in Federal Systems (Oxford University Press, 2015).