Leonard D. White Award
Leonard D. White Award
Nominations for the 2024 APSA Awards have closed.
The White Award honors the best doctoral dissertation in the field of public administration.
The award, supported by University of Chicago, is presented at the APSA Annual Meeting and carries a cash prize of $750.
Nomination Information
- Eligibility: Nominees do not have to be members of APSA, affiliated with an institution in the United States, or an American citizen in order to be considered for an award.
Dissertations must have been successfully defended within the previous two calendar years (dissertations for the 2024 award must be defended in 2022 or 2023).
Self-nominations are accepted. Nominations from non-PhD departments and institutions are also welcome if the nominee is currently employed there.
APSA will accept up to two nominations for the White Award per school or political science department.
Listing of Awardees
Year Author Dissertation Submitted by 2024 Sarah Rozenblum Why Do Governments Ignore Their Own Experts? The Role of Scientific Advice in Covid-19 Vaccine Policy in France and the United States Cornell University 2023
The Digital Citizen: The Impact of Technology on Public Participation and Government Responsiveness
Emory University
2022
When is Hindsight 20/20? The Politics of Acknowledging and Revising Failed Policies
Harvard University
2021
Domesticating Civil Society: How and Why Governments Use Laws to Regulate CSOs
Indiana University
2020
Beyond Adoption: The Influence of Local Institutional Arrangements on Sustainability Policy Implementation and Management
University of Kansas
2019
Moral Subsidy: The Origins of Influential Extra-Governmental Organizations in US National Security Politics
University of Chicago
2018
Jennifer Mei Jun Yim
Delinquency’s Treatment: Why Interactions Produce Policy and Identity in Secure Juvenile Facilities
University of Utah
2017
Alan Zarychta
It Takes More Than a Village: Governance and Public Services in Developing Countries
University of Colorado at Boulder
2016
Bruce Jones
An fMRI Study of the Reward Preferences of Government and Business Leaders
University of Texas, Dallas
2015
Katharine Bradley
Who Lobbies the Lobbyists? Bureaucratic Influence on State Medicaid Legislation
University of Michigan
2014
Viridiana Rios Contreras
How Government Structure Encourages Criminal Violence: The Causes of Mexico’s Drug War
Harvard University
2013
Deondra E. Rose
The Development of U.S. Higher Education Policy and its Impact on the Gender Dynamics of American Citizenship
Cornell University
2012
Quinn W. Mulroy
Public Regulation through Private Litigation: The Regulatory Power of Private Lawsuits and the American Bureaucracy
Columbia University
2011
Amanda M. Girth
Accountability and Discretion in the Age of Contracting: When and Why Do Public Managers Implement Sanctions for Unsatisfactory Contract Performance?
American University
2010
Mikhail Pryadilnikov
The State and Markets in Russia: Understanding the Development of Bureaucratic Implementation Capacities through the Study of Regulatory Reform, 2001-2008
Harvard University
2009
Zachary Oberfield
Becoming the Man: How Street-Level Bureaucrats Develop Their Workplace Identities and Views
University of Wisconsin, Madison
2008
Matthew Dull
The Politics of Results: Comprehensive Reform and Institutional Choice
University of Wisconsin
2007
Daniel W. Gingerich
Corruption in General Equilibrium: Political Institutions and Bureaucratic Performance in South America
Harvard University
2006
David Pitts
Diversity, Representation and Performance: Evidence about Ethnicity in Public Organizations
University of Georgia