The annual Prize celebrates the legacy of Stein Rokkan, a true pioneer in comparative social science research, acknowledging a submission deemed a substantial and original contribution in the field.
Nominations for the 2025 edition will open later in the year. Subscribe to our newsletters to be notified.
The Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research is presented by the International Science Council, the University of Bergen and the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). Thanks to the generosity of the University of Bergen it comprises an award of EUR 5,000 and is awarded on an annual basis.
Stein Rokkan was a pioneer of comparative political and social science research, renowned among other things for his ground-breaking work on the nation state and democracy. A brilliant researcher and a professor at the University of Bergen where he spent most of his career, Rokkan was also president of the International Social Science Council (ISSC) (which merged with the International Council for Science (ICSU) in 2018 to form the International Science Council), and one of the founders of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR).
The prize is open to works in comparative studies from all social science disciplines. It is given to a submission that is deemed by the jury to be a very substantial and original contribution in comparative social science research.
Past winners
| Year | Author(s) | Title |
| 2024 | Anu Bradford | Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology |
| 2023 | Elisabeth Anderson | Agents of Reform: Child Labor and the Origins of the Welfare State |
| 2022 | Vineeta Yadav | Religious Parties and the Politics of Civil Liberties |
| 2021 | Ran Hirschl | City, State: Constitutionalism and the Megacity |
| 2020 | Jeffrey M. Chwieroth / Andrew Walter | The Wealth Effect: How the Great Expectations of the Middle Class Have Changed the Politics of Banking Crises |
| 2019 | Andreas Wimmer | Nation Building: Why Some Countries Come Together while Others Fall Apart |
| 2018 | Rafaela M. Dancygier | Dilemmas of Inclusion: Muslims in European Politics |
| 2017 | Abel Escribà-Folch / Joseph Wright | Foreign Pressure and the Politics of Autocratic Survival |
| 2016 | Stanislav Markus | Property, Predation, and Protection: Piranha Capitalism in Russia and Ukraine |
| 2015 | Marius Busemeyer | Skills and Inequality: Partisan Politics and the Political Economy of Education Reforms in Western Welfare States |
| 2014 | Christian Welzel | Freedom Rising: Human Empowerment and the Quest for Emancipation |
| 2013 | Dorothee Bohle / Béla Greskovits | Capitalist Diversity on Europe’s Periphery |
| 2012 | Pepper D. Culpepper | Quiet Politics and Business Power: Corporate Control in Europe and Japan |
| 2011 | James W. McGuire | Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America |
| 2010 | Beth A. Simmons | Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics |
| 2009 | Robert E. Goodin / James Mahmud Rice / Antti Parpo / Lina Eriksson | Discretionary Time: A New Measure of Freedom |
| 2008 | Cas Mudde | Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe |
| 2006 | Milada Anna Vachudova | Europe Undivided: Democracy, Leverage, and Integration after Communism |
| 2004 | Daniele Caramani | The Nationalization of Politics: The Formation of National Electorates and Party Systems in Western Europe |
| 2002 | Patrick Le Galès | European Cities: Social Conflicts and Governance |
| 2000 | Eva Anduiza-Perea | Individual and Systemic Determinants of Electoral Abstention in Western Europe |
| 1998 | Robert Rohrschneider | Learning Democracy: Democratic and Economic Values in Unified Germany |
| 1996 | Kees van Kersbergen | Social Capitalism: A Study of Christian Democracy and the Welfare State |
| 1992 | Kaare Strøm | Minority Government and Majority Rule |
| 1990 | Stefano Bartolini / Peter Mair | Identity, Competition and Electoral Availability: The Stabilisation of European Electorates 1885-1985 |
| 1988 | Charles C. Ragin | The Comparative Method: Moving beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies |
| 1986 | Louis M. Imbeau | Donor Aid: The Determinants of Development Allocations to Third World Countries |
| 1983 | Jens Alber | Vom Armenhaus zum Wohlfahrtsstaat: Analysen zur Entwicklung der Sozialversicherung in Westeuropa, “Einige Grundlagen und Begleiterscheinungen der Entwicklung der Sozialausgaben in Westeuropa, 1949-1977” |
| 1981 | Manfred G. Schmidt | Wohlfahrtsstaatliche Politik unter bürgerlichen und sozialdemokratischen Regierungen: Ein internationaler Vergleich |
Honourable mentions
| 2019 | Alisha C. Holland, Anna K. Boucher and Justin Gest | Forbearance as Redistribution: The Politics of Informal Welfare in Latin America Anna K. Boucher and Justin Gest |
| 2020 | Sinisa Malesevic | Grounded Nationalisms: A Sociological Analysis |
| 2021 | Michael Bruter and Sarah Harrison | Inside the mind of a voter |
| 2022 | Fernando Casal Bértoa and Zsolt Enyedi | Party System Closure. Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe |
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