2025-26 Winner and Shortlist
Winner
Disability and Political Representation
Professor Elizabeth Evans and Dr Stefanie Reher, published by Oxford University Press
Disability and Political Representation explores how and why representation is important for disabled people, but also how disability can help us think about the contours of political representation. The book examines the barriers to political participation that disabled people face and discusses why increasing the number of disabled politicians matters, not only as a matter of justice and equality but also to better represent the issues and interests of importance to disabled people. Drawing upon extensive empirical research, Disability and Political Representation identifies a variety of ableist barriers prevent disabled people from fully participating in the political process, from disenfranchisement and inaccessible polling stations to prejudice within parties and a lack of financial support for candidates who require adjustments.
Shortlist
One and All: The Logic of Chinese Sovereignty
Professor Pang Laikwan, published by Stanford University Press
The concept of sovereignty is a crucial foundation of the current world order. Regardless of their political ideologies no states can operate without claiming and justifying their sovereign power. The People’s Republic of China (PRC)—one of the most powerful states in contemporary global politics—has been resorting to the logic of sovereignty to respond to many external and internal challenges, from territorial rights disputes to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this book, Pang Laikwan analyzes the historical roots of Chinese sovereignty. Surveying the four different political structures of modern China—imperial, republican, socialist, and post-socialist—and the dramatic ruptures between them, Pang argues that the ruling regime’s sovereign anxiety cuts across the long twentieth century in China, providing a strong throughline for the state–society relations during moments of intense political instability.
How the radical right has changed capitalism and welfare in Europe and the USA
Dr Philip Rathgeb, published by Oxford University Press
Radical right parties are no longer political challengers on the fringes of party systems; they have become part of the political mainstream across the Western world. This book shows how they have used their political power to reform economic and social policies in Continental Europe, Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, and the USA. In doing so, it argues that the radical right’s core ideology of nativism and authoritarianism informs their socio-economic policy preferences. However, diverse welfare state contexts mediate their socio-economic policy impacts along regime-specific lines, leading to variations of trade protectionism, economic nationalism, traditional familialism, labour market dualism, and welfare chauvinism.
Politicizing Political Liberalism: On the Containment of Illiberal and Antidemocratic Views
Dr Gabriele Badano and Dr Alasia Nuti, published by Oxford University Press
How should broadly liberal democratic societies stop illiberal and anti-democratic views from gaining influence while honouring liberal democratic values? This question has become particularly pressing after the recent successes of right-wing populist leaders and parties across Europe, in the US, and beyond. This book develops a normative account of liberal democratic self-defence that denounces the failures of real-world societies without excusing those supporting illiberal and anti-democratic political actors. This account is innovative in focusing not only on the role of the state but also on the duties of non-state actors including citizens, partisans, and municipalities. Consequently, it also addresses cases where the central government has at least partly been captured by illiberal and anti-democratic agents.
The Politics of Intersectional Practice: Representation, Coalition and Solidarity in UK NGO
Dr Ashlee Christoffersen, published by Bristol University Press
It is increasingly recognized that, to achieve social justice, policies and organizations need to apply an intersectional approach, rather than addressing inequalities separately. However, intersectionality is a challenging theory to apply, as policy makers and practitioners often navigate the confines of divided policy areas. This book examines the use of intersectionality in UK policy and practice, with a specific focus on NGOs, outlining five distinct interpretations of intersectional practice and their implications. Drawing from extensive fieldwork with a diverse range of equality organizations, this book offers invaluable insights into how policy and practice can be organized in more (and less) intersectional ways.
The Changing Electoral Map of England and Wales
Dr Jamie Furlong and Professor Will Jennings, published by Oxford University Press
This book offers a definitive account of the changing electoral geography of England and Wales over the past half century. Changes in social and economic structure have altered the spatial distribution of voters and combined with changes in the parties’ appeal to those voters (and the behaviour of voters) has led to a gradual, though recently accelerating, realignment in the geographical basis of electoral competition. Constituency-level analysis of voting at general elections between 1979 and 2019 shows a swing from Labour to the Conservatives in demographically left behind areas with largely white, working-class populations and lower levels of educational attainment, while Labour’s support has remained stable in places characterized by economic deprivation (economically left behind areas) and insecure employment (precariously left behind areas).
2025-26 Judging panel: Chair: Iain McLean; Barbara Piotrowska; Fiona MacKay; Roger Awan-Scully and Dena Aryia who have confirmed the following books have been shortlisted.
2024-25 Winner and Shortlist
Winner
The Way the Money Goes: The Fiscal Constitution and Public Spending in the UK
Christopher Hood, Maia King, Iain McLean, and Barbara Piotrowska, published by Oxford University Press
Based on extensive documents and over 130 in-depth interviews with civil servants and ministers, this book explores the UK’s fiscal constitution—the framework for planning and controlling public spending—under three different governments from the early 1990s to the mid-2010s. It combines narrative analysis with vignettes, offering insights into the evolution of public expenditure management.
Shortlist
Devolution in Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region: The First Mayoral Term
Georgina Blakeley and Brendan Evans, published by Manchester University Press
This comprehensive account examines how metro-mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram evolved their offices during their first terms from 2017 to 2021. The book delves into policy areas such as economic development, transport, skills, health, housing, and environmental reforms, highlighting efforts to ‘level up’ the north and address regional inequalities.
The 1922 Committee: Power Behind the Scenes
Philip Norton, published by Manchester University Press
This insightful work delves into the history and influence of the 1922 Committee within the UK’s Conservative Party. It examines how this group operates behind the scenes, shaping party leadership and policy decisions, and its pivotal role in the political landscape.
Inside Congressional Committees
Maya L. Kornberg, published by Columbia University Press
Kornberg offers a detailed exploration of the inner workings of U.S. congressional committees. The book sheds light on the processes, challenges, and dynamics that define legislative decision-making, providing a nuanced understanding of how laws are crafted and the factors influencing policy outcomes.
The Conservative Party after Brexit
Tim Bale, published by Polity Books
This timely analysis examines the trajectory of the Conservative Party in the aftermath of Brexit. Bale explores the internal and external challenges faced by the party, its evolving policies, and the broader implications for the UK’s political future in a post-Brexit era.
2023-24 Winner and Shortlist
Winner
Making Bureaucracy Work: Norms, Education and Public Service Delivery in Rural India
Akshay Mangla, published by Cambridge University Press
Drawing on several years of comprehensive in-depth fieldwork, this magisterial account of public service delivery in north India offers compelling and convincing innovations in a range of fields, including deliberative democracy and bureaucracy, multilevel governance, and policy implementation. Exceptionally well written and methodologically sophisticated, the book’s theoretical and comparative ambition, range and scope make it an outstanding contribution to political studies.
Shortlist
Magical Thinking in Public Policy: Why Naïve Ideals about Better Policymaking Persist in Cynical Times
John Boswell, published by Oxford University Press
Progressive ideals for better policy-making – such as evidence-informed policy or citizen engagement – are hard to achieve, and people promoting such ‘magical thinking’ have been called naïve. Boswell challenges this view, reasserting the value of appeals to core concepts, such as transparency, collaboration and prevention. His work deploys a series of topical in-depth examples to demonstrate the practical value of magical thinking for dealing with radical uncertainty, working across silos, and handling unavoidable conflicts. This highly readable book makes a convincing case for the continuing value of optimistic ideas in government.
The Struggle for Inclusion: Muslim Minorities and the Democratic Ethos
Elisabeth Ivarsflaten and Paul Sniderman, published by University of Chicago Press
This is an important and timely book on the inclusion of Muslims in Western liberal democracies. It has an unusual substantive focus, sidestepping anti-Muslim attitudes in favour of the tolerant majority and the character and limitations of their tolerance. Moreover, the authors outline an innovative and rigorous ‘sequential factorial’ methodology, of repeated, refined public opinion experiments, which has much wider applicability.
Collaboration and Public Policy: Agency in the Pursuit of Public Purpose
Helen Sullivan, published by Palgrave Macmillan
This authoritative book represents the culmination of many years of work in public policy, offering an original synthesis of diverse elements that explain an enduring idea in public policy: collaboration. Sullivan’s clarity of expression cuts a swathe through the sometimes-dense literature in this field. Her insights provide a framework which future public policy scholars will be keen to use to explore a wide range of empirical contexts and analyses of the dynamics of collaborations.
No Other Planet
Mathias Thaler, published by Cambridge University Press
Thaler’s book brings together ‘constellations’ of political theory and speculative fiction in a fascinating and crucial conversation about how we might live in a climate-changed world. Engaging with three strands of utopian and dystopian imagining (organised around the questions ‘what if’, ‘if only’, and ‘if this goes on’), the author creatively illuminates modes of social dreaming and a range of possible futures.
For our previous winners, please see our archived list here.