Mayer Journal Prize is awarded annually to the author(s) of the paper judged to be the best published in the Australian Journal of Political Science in the previous year.
Nomination Guidelines
- The prize is awarded to the best paper published in an issue of the Australian Journal of Political Science in the preceding calendar year (excluding symposia, parts of symposia, replies, rejoinders, research notes and book reviews).
- Members of the judging panel will be invited to nominate up to three eligible papers each, in order of merit, for consideration by the judging panel.
Judging Process
- The decision will be made by a judging panel chaired by a member of the APSA Executive. The panel will consist of at least three judges (including the chair), with at least one member of the AJPS Editorial Board. Past winners will be encouraged to participate in the judging process for future awards.
- Authors or co-authors of papers in the volume of AJPS under consideration will not be eligible to participate in the judging panel. Members of judging panels should adhere to the Guidance on Identifying and Managing Conflicts of Interest. If the Chair of a judging panel has a significant conflict of interest, they must relinquish their position as Chair to one of the other panellists.
- APSA reserves the right not to award the prize in any given year.
Award Details
- The winner will be invited to attend the Association’s AGM & Prize Ceremony and receive the prize of $1000 and a certificate.
- This Prize is funded by the Journal’s publisher, Taylor & Francis Group.
Past Winners:
2023: Michelle Evans and Duncan McDonnell, “More partisans than parachutes, more successful than not: Indigenous candidates of the major Australian parties”
Honourable mention: Amy Nethery, Zim Nwokora, Peter Ferguson & Matthew Clarke, “Politics as a transitory vocation: a case study of the post-parliamentary challenges experienced by former Victorian MPs”
2022: Philip Mendes, Steven Roche, Greg Marston, Shelley Bielefeld, Michelle Peterie, Zoe Staines and Louise Humpage, ‘‘Is conditional welfare an effective means for reducing alcohol and drug abuse? An exploration of compulsory income management across four Australian trial sites’
2021: Sarah Cameron, ‘Government Performance and Dissatisfaction with Democracy in Australia’,
2020: Elizabeth Strakosch , ‘The technical is political: settler colonialism and the Australian Indigenous policy system’
2019: Alastair Stark, ‘New institutionalism, critical junctures and post-crisis policy reform’
2018: Carolyn Hendriks, ‘Citizen-led Democratic Reform: Innovations in Indi.’
2017: Dennis Grube, ‘Sticky Words? Towards a theory of rhetorical path dependency.’
2016: Alan Fenna & Alan Tapper, ‘Economic Inequality in Australia: A Reassessment.’
2015: Dennis Grube, ‘Administrative learning or political blaming? Public servants, parliamentary committees and the drama of public accountability.’
2014: Professors Kath Gelber and Luke McNamara, ‘Freedom of speech and racial vilification in Australia: “The Bolt case” in public discourse.’
2013:Alan Fenna & Alan Tapper, ‘The Australian Welfare State and the Neoliberalism Thesis.’
2011: John Kane and Haig Patapan, ‘The Artless Art: Leadership and the Limits of Democratic Rhetoric.’
2010: Tim Rowse, ‘Indigenous politics.’
2009: Linda Botterill and Anne McNaughton, Australian National University, ‘Laying the Foundations for the Wheat Scandal: UN sanctions, Private actors and the Cole inquiry
2008: Sally Young, University of Melbourne, ‘Policy-making in a ‘cold climate‘ of ruling party benefit: Party government and the regulation of government advertising in Australia.’
2001: Judith Brett, Latrobe University, ‘Retrieving the Partisan History of Australian Citizenship.’
2000: Stephen Crook, Jan Pakulski and Bruce Tranter, University of Tasmania, ‘The Dynamics of environmental issues in Australia: Concerns, clusters and carriers’.
1999: Murray Goot, ‘Whose Mandate? Policy Promises, Strong Bicameralism and Polled Opinion’