World-leading political scientist wins Berlin Prize
University of Sydney political scientist Professor Pippa Norris has been awarded the Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize for her lifetime contribution to political studies.
Professor Norris with the Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize for Lifetime Contribution to Political Studies. Professor Norris is pictured with broadcaster Jon Snow and Sir Ivor Crewe, Master of University College, Oxford, at the PSA Awards. Image: Political Studies Association
A University of Sydney academic who is amongst the world’s most cited and influential political scientists has received a major international honour for her lifetime contributions to the discipline of political studies.
Professor Pippa Norris, ARC Laureate Fellow and founder and director of the Electoral Integrity Project, was awarded the Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize by the Political Studies Association (PSA) at a recent ceremony in London.
"Professor Norris has been awarded the Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize for the significant contribution she has made as a major political thinker and in helping to shape academic research on democracy, electoral integrity, and populism – all issues that are relevant now more than ever,” said the PSA Awards jury.
Professor Norris’s research compares public opinion and elections, political institutions and cultures, gender politics, and political communications in many countries worldwide. She is the fourth most cited political scientist worldwide, according to Google Scholar, and is the second most downloaded political scientist in the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).
“To be awarded this significant prize by the PSA is a remarkable achievement and I am delighted Professor Norris's work has been recognised in this way.”
“Naturally I was delighted to learn that the PSA had honoured me with the Sir Isaiah Berlin award. The PSA has been seminal in my early career and it will always be an enduring part of my intellectual home,” said Professor Norris.
“It is also a particular honour to be given this award given the high regard I have always felt for the life and legacy of Sir Isaiah Berlin, and his passionate defence of liberty and value pluralism, which is more important now than ever.”
University of Sydney Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Duncan Ivison, said the award was an outstanding achievement.
“Pippa Norris is a towering figure in comparative politics and has been for a number of years,” said Professor Ivison.
“Her most recent work on electoral integrity, populism and democratic reform – led from the University of Sydney and the focus of her prestigious ARC Laureate Fellowship – has once again put her and her team at the forefront of political science and current debates about the rise of populism and the threats to the long-term sustainability of democracy.
“To be awarded this significant prize by the Political Studies Association is a remarkable achievement and I am delighted her work has been recognised in this way.”
The award for Professor Norris was announced in the same week that the Electoral Integrity Project won the International Institutional Engagement Award at the International Electoral Awards, held in Jordan.
