Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research

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.

Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research

About the Prize

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

1981Manfred G. SchmidtWohlfahrtsstaatliche Politik unter bürgerlichen und sozialdemokratischen Regierungen: Ein internationaler Vergleich
1983Jens AlberVom Armenhaus zum Wohlfahrtsstaat: Analysen zur Entwicklung der Sozialversicherung in Westeuropa (From the Poor House to the Welfare State: Analysis of the Development of Social Insurance in Western Europe),   “Einige Grundlagen und Begleiterscheinungen der Entwicklung der Sozialausgaben in Westeuropa, 1949-1977” (“Some Causes and Consequences of Social Security Expenditure Development in Western Europe, 1949-1977”)
1986Louis M. Imbeau [fr]Donor Aid: The Determinants of Development Allocations to Third World Countries
1988Charles C. RaginThe Comparative Method: Moving beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies
1990Stefano Bartolini / Peter MairIdentity, Competition and Electoral Availability: The Stabilisation of European Electorates 1885-1985
1992Kaare StrømMinority Government and Majority Rule
1996Kees van KersbergenSocial Capitalism: A Study of Christian Democracy and the Welfare State
1998Robert RohrschneiderLearning Democracy: Democratic and Economic Values in Unified Germany
2000Eva Anduiza-PereaIndividual and Systemic Determinants of Electoral Abstention in Western Europe
2002Patrick Le GalèsEuropean Cities: Social Conflicts and Governance
2004Daniele CaramaniThe Nationalization of Politics: The Formation of National Electorates and Party Systems in Western Europe
2006Milada Anna VachudovaEurope Undivided: Democracy, Leverage, and Integration after Communism
2008Cas MuddePopulist Radical Right Parties in Europe
2009Robert E. Goodin / James Mahmud Rice / Antti Parpo / Lina ErikssonDiscretionary Time: A New Measure of Freedom
2010Beth A. SimmonsMobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics
2011James W. McGuireWealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America
2012Pepper D. CulpepperQuiet Politics and Business Power: Corporate Control in Europe and Japan
2013Dorothee Bohle / Béla GreskovitsCapitalist Diversity on Europe’s Periphery
2014Christian WelzelFreedom Rising: Human Empowerment and the Quest for Emancipation
2015Marius BusemeyerSkills and Inequality: Partisan Politics and the Political Economy of Education Reforms in Western Welfare States
2016Stanislav MarkusProperty, Predation, and Protection: Piranha Capitalism in Russia and Ukraine
2017Abel Escribà-Folch / Joseph WrightForeign Pressure and the Politics of Autocratic Survival
2018Rafaela M. DancygierDilemmas of Inclusion: Muslims in European Politics
2019Andreas WimmerNation Building: Why Some Countries Come Together while Others Fall Apart
2020Jeffrey M. Chwieroth / Andrew WalterThe Wealth Effect: How the Great Expectations of the Middle Class Have Changed the Politics of Banking Crises
2021Ran HirschlCity, State: Constitutionalism and the Megacity
2022Vineeta YadavReligious Parties and the Politics of Civil Liberties
2023Elisabeth AndersonAgents of Reform: Child Labor and the Origins of the Welfare State

Honourable mentions

2020Siniša MaleševićGrounded Nationalisms: A Sociological Analysis
2019Alisha 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
2020Siniša MaleševićGrounded Nationalisms: A Sociological Analysis
2021Michael Bruter and Sarah HarrisonInside the mind of a voter
2022Fernando Casal Bértoa and Zsolt EnyediParty System Closure. Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe

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