SPOTLIGHTS Elster Receives 2016 Skytte Prize
The Johan Skytte Prize annually recognizes the most valuable contribution to the field of political science. This year’s prize is awarded to Jon Elster, Robert K. Merton Professor in Social Sciences at Columbia University and honorary professor at College de France, Paris, where he held the chair "Rationality et Sciences Sociales" from 2005 to 2011.
Elster receives the Prize for “penetrating, astute, and unwavering drive to test and reconsider what explains human behavior.” Ever since his dissertation on Karl Marx at Sorbonne which he defended in 1972, Elster has committed his scholarly efforts to trying to understand what it is that makes people act the way they do. “How can the way we think, our collective power and our emotions explain our actions?”—this question has long stood at the forefront of his scholarly endeavor. Over five decades, Elster has urged political scientists to seriously consider the meanings of rationality, irrationality, social norms, and the significance of emotions within their research and has thus immeasurably enriched and broadened the discipline. Elster’s independent intellectual journey, where both bold guesses and self-criticism were indivisible companions, serves as one of the most inspirational examples of boundless curiosity within political science.
Before joining Columbia University, Elster taught at the University of Chicago (1984–1995), the University of Oslo (1975–1985), and the University of Paris (1973–1977). He has been appointed to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1988), and he is member of the Norwegian Academy of Science (since 1981), a member of Academia Europaea (since 1989), a fellow of the British Academy (1991), and a member of the American Philosophical Society (since 2012).
His publications include Ulysses and the Sirens, Sour Grapes, Making Sense of Marx, The Cement of Society, Solomonic Judgements, Local Justice, Political Psychology, Alchemies of the Mind, Ulysses Unbound, Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective, Explaining Social Behavior, and Securities Against Misrule: Juries, Assemblies, Elections. His research interests include the theory of individual and of collective choice, the philosophy of the social sciences, the theory of distributive justice, and the history of social thought. He is currently preparing a comparative analysis of the French and American constitution-making processes in the 18th century.
The Johan Skytte Prize was awarded for the 22nd year by the Johan Skytte Foundation at Uppsala University in a ceremony on 1 October, 2016. In 1622, Johan Skytte, then Vice-Chancellor of the University, established the Johan Skytte chair in Eloquence and Government, which is probably the world’s oldest active professorship in political science. The lands included in the original donation continue to finance research and the Johan Skytte Prize. The prize is awarded each year by The Skytte Foundation at Uppsala University to the person who has made the “most valuable contribution to political science.”
Breuning Receives Distinguished Scholar Award
Marijke Breuning will receive the Quincy Wright Distinguished Scholar Award given by the International Studies Association, Midwest Region and the Distinguished Scholar Award given by the Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) section of the International Studies Association during the upcoming academic year.
The Quincy Wright Distinguished Scholar Award was created in 2000 and is given annually to a scholar who has significantly influenced the ISA-Midwest region and is presented at the award luncheon during ISA Midwest Annual Conference.
The FPA Distinguished Scholar Award was created by the FPA Section to honor outstanding scholarship in foreign policy analysis and is given each year at the Annual Convention.
Remembering the 2016 Annual Meeting
APSA welcomed 6,800 political scientists from around the world to Philadelphia for the 112th Annual Meeting September 1–4. Turn to the Annual Meeting section on page 933 in this issue to see pictures and read about events, awards, and other memories from this year's Annual Meeting.
Rosebaum Elected Vice Chair of United Nations Committee
At its annual meeting at UN Headquarters in New York, Allan Rosenbaum of Florida International University (FIU) in Miami was elected to a two-year term as vice chairperson of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration. Membership on the committee involves a term of four years and is limited to 24 individuals from throughout the world with no more than one person from a country. Individuals are nominated for the committee by the UN Secretary General, approved by their country’s United Nation’s ambassador and elected to the committee by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Current membership of the committee includes present and former cabinet ministers, ambassadors, and other senior governmental officials as well as distinguished academics.
While Rosenbaum is the fourth American to have been selected to serve on the committee, he is the first to have ever been elected as either chair or vice chair of the committee in its 16-year history. The committee was established by the UN Economic and Social Council for the purpose of providing guidance to the Council—and the various organs of the United Nations concerned with issues of public administration and economic development—on issues of governance reform and the building of effective governmental administration. The committee meets at least once a year in formal session in New York, and at other times during the year, committee members participate in a wide variety of meetings and related activities around the world on behalf of the United Nations.
Professor Rosenbaum joined FIU 27 years ago as dean of its then School of Public Affairs and Services. He has written extensively on issues of good governance and democratic institution building throughout the world. He has worked in in local, state, and national government in the United States and directed major US government democratic institution building projects in Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America. He is a member of the congressionally established National Academy of Public Administration and a past president of both the American Society for Public Administration located in Washington, DC, and the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration located in Brussels, Belgium. He is the recipient of numerous awards from various universities, professional associations, and governments around the world and has served as Visiting Distinguished Professor at the University of Potsdam, Germany.
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Berkman Named Director
Michael Berkman, professor of political science and director of the Center for American Political Responsiveness (CAPR), has been named director of Penn State’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy. He succeeds former director John Gastil, professor of communication arts and political science.
“I am excited to build on John Gastil’s excellent work, which has positioned the McCourtney Institute to be an important voice during this contentious campaign and beyond,” Berkman said.
The McCourtney Institute is an interdisciplinary center dedicated to understanding and improving democracy and the democratic process through research, teaching, and outreach. The center pursues this mission and also supports the work of CAPR and the Center for Democratic Deliberation.
“I am thrilled that Michael has agreed to serve as the next leader of the McCourtney Institute,” added Susan Welch, dean of the College of the Liberal Arts. “His scholarly work, the respect he has among his peers, his reputation as a teacher and a mentor, and his administrative acumen truly make him the best person to fill this role.”
Berkman has been a member of Penn State’s faculty since receiving his PhD from Indiana University in 1989. His work has been published in journals such as the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Political Research Quarterly, and Public Opinion Quarterly.
Berkman’s most recent book Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America’s Classrooms (2010, with Eric Plutzer) received the Don K. Price Award for the best book in science, technology, and politics. He, Plutzer, Christopher Ojeda, and Anne Whitesell are currently working on a project focusing on American state welfare policy.
Berkman is also a member of the college’s Paterno Fellows Faculty Advisory Board. He received the college’s Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award in 2010; the college’s Distinction in the Social Sciences Award in 2011; and its Welch Alumni Relations Award in 2016.
