Spotlight: Donald P. Kommers Receives German Distinguished Cross of the Order of Merit

On November 8, 2010, Donald P. Kommers, professor emeritus of political science and law at the University of Notre Dame, received the distinguished Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany at a special ceremony in Chicago's German Consulate. The Cross is the highest tribute paid to individuals for service to the nation and can be conferred on foreigners as well as German citizens. The award is conferred for achievements in the political, economic, social, intellectual, or philanthropic spheres.

Kommers is the Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Notre Dame. His research focuses on constitutional law and the constitutional courts of advanced democracies. He is the author of The Constitutional Jurisprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany, the third edition of which will soon be published by Duke University Press, as well as nine other books and countless articles. He serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Jurisprudence, the American Journal of Comparative Law, and the International Journal of Comparative Constitutional Law. Over the course of his career, Kommers has been the recipient of numerous grants and honors, including the Alexander von Humboldt Prize, the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award, and a Max Planck Society Fellowship.

Beth Simmons Named Winner of 2010 Stein Rokkan Prize

Beth A. Simmons was named the winner of the International Social Science Council (ISSC)'s fifteenth Stein Rokkan Price for Comparative Social Science Research. The award was given for her book Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2009).

The Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research was first awarded in 1981 in honor of Stein Rokkan (1921–79). The prize is now awarded on an annual basis and is open to all social science disciplines. It is given to a submission that is deemed a very substantial and original contribution to comparative social science research. Submissions can be either an unpublished manuscript of book length, a printed book, or collected works published no more than two years before the award ceremony is to take place. The prize is €5,000. For further information, see http://www.worldsocialscience.org/?page_id=78#stein.

Simmons is the Clarence Diller Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University. She has also previously taught at Duke University and the University of California–Berkeley and was a Council on Foreign Relations Foreign Affairs Fellow in 1995–96. She has been published in numerous journals, including the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, and the Journal of Conflict Resolution. She currently serves as the president-elect of the International Studies Association.

Jorge Heine Named Public Policy Scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Jorge Heine, CIGI chair in global governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University, and a distinguished fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ontario, has been named a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, for summer 2011.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars supports social science and humanities research by offering fellowships to academics, public officials, journalists, and business professionals for the purpose of research and fostering relationships with policymakers.

Heine has previously served as ambassador of Chile to India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka (2003–07), and to South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe (1994–99), as well as cabinet minister and deputy minister of defense in the Chilean government. He has been a visiting fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford; Winegard Visiting Lecturer at the University of Guelph; and Oliver Tambo Lecturer at Delhi University, and he has taught at Stanford and the University of Heidelberg. He is a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of the United Nations Development Programme's Latin American Bureau and the editorial board of Global Governance. His latest book, co-edited with Ramesh Thakur, The Dark Side of Globalization (2011), is being published by United Nations University Press.

Fannie E. Rippel Foundation Awards Grant to Elinor Ostrom and Michael McGinnis for Health Care Research

The Fannie E. Rippel Foundation recently awarded a $295,000 grant to a research team headed by Elinor Ostrom, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Indiana and 2009 co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and Michael McGinnis, professor of political science at IU and co-director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. The 18-month project will use methods of institutional analysis to study the resource pools that are most commonly drawn upon in health care, with the goal of helping find ways to reduce costs and make high-quality health care more sustainable. Research will focus on three critical resource pools in health policy: the human capital of physicians and other health care professionals, the physical capital of health care facilities, and the economic capital available for the diverse activities involved in health care delivery.

This project draws on Ostrom's ideas developed in Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (Cambridge University Press, 1990). Ostrom received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for her work on economic governance of the commons, which concluded that the conditions of real-world communities allow them to manage resources in a sustainable way, as long as both trust and autonomy characterize their interactions and structures. Her work offers a community alternative to the government or the markets as enforcers of resource use. McGinnis has a long history of research in public policy and institutional analysis and has been published widely. His most recent book is Compound Dilemmas: Democracy, Collective Action, and Superpower Rivalry, with John T. Williams (University of Michigan Press, 2001).

The Rippel Foundation is a nonprofit organization that engages leaders in health and other relevant fields to discover new ways of thinking about our health system in order to achieve better health, better care, and lower costs. The Foundation emphasizes a systems-based approach and works with stakeholders to explore and implement innovative initiatives. More information can be found at http://rippelfoundation.org.

Laura Landy, president of the Foundation, noted, “Managing the health care commons is a crucial challenge for our nation and the world, and Lin Ostrom and her team are uniquely qualified to lead that effort. We hope that this project will result both in valuable new insights and in practical tools for health care leaders and concerned communities.”

Benjamin Fordham Named Henry Kissinger Scholar at the Kluge Center of the Library of Congress

Benjamin Fordham, professor and chair of Binghamton University's department of political science, was named the Henry Alfred Kissinger Scholar in Foreign Policy and International Relations in the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, beginning in September 2010.

The Kissinger chair was created in 2000 to emphasize the importance of foreign affairs and allow outstanding thinkers and practitioners the opportunity to work with the Library's vast resources. Fordham is the tenth scholar honored with the chair. While at the Kluge Center, his research concerns the ways that domestic, political, and economic considerations influence foreign policy decisions, especially as they relate to the rise of the United States as a world power.

Fordham has previously taught at the University of Albany, SUNY, and held visiting appointments at Harvard University and Duke University. His most recent book is Building the Cold War Consensus: The Political Economy of U.S. National Security Policy, 1949–1951 (University of Michigan Press, 1998), and he has published numerous articles in such journals as International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, and the Journal of Politics.

Awards

Ali Abdullatif Ahmida, professor and chair, department of political science, University of New England, received the Ludcke Chair Award 2010–11 for distinguished scholarship and teaching.

Archie Brown, emeritus professor of politics, Oxford University, was awarded the 2010 W. J. M. Mackenzie Prize of the Political Studies Association of the UK, for best political science book of the year for The Rise and Fall of Communism (Ecco, 2009).

Edward G. Carmines, Warner O. Chapman Professor and Rudy Professor of political science, Indiana University, was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to conduct a summer institute for high school history and social studies teachers.

Jerry Polinard, professor, department of political science, University of Texas-Pan American, received the 2010 Minnie Stevens Piper Award for excellence in teaching in Texas.

Richard Rose, director, Centre for the Study of Public Policy, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the European University Institute, Florence, for his publications on comparative politics and public policy over five decades and his contribution to the development of political science in Europe.

Administrative Appointments

Richard Collins, former president of Wayne State College, has been appointed president of Southwestern Community College (North Carolina).

Richard S. Ruderman, associate professor, department of political science, University of North Texas, was appointed chair of the department of political science.

John N. Short, former dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, has been appointed dean, CEO, and professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin–Fond du Lac.

New Appointments

Kim Yi Dionne, assistant professor, department of political science, Texas A&M University

Francisco J. Pedraza, assistant professor, department of political science, Texas A&M University

Promotions

Sharon A. Barrios, professor, department of political science, California State University, Chico

Kimberley Johnson, associate professor with tenure, department of political science, Barnard College

Charles L. Mitchell, professor, department of political science and public administration, Grambling State University

Sherrow Orlinder Pinder, professor, department of political science, California State University, Chico

In the News

Ishtiaq Ahmed, professor emeritus, department of political science, Stockholm University, South Asian Observer, on self-delusion and Pakistan's leadership

Matt Barreto, associate professor, department of political science, University of Washington, Seattle Post Intelligencer, on comparison of pre-election polls and actual returns in Washington congressional races

Adolphus Belk, professor, department of political science, Winthrop University, Kansas City Star, on potential Republican gains in South Carolina elections

Wendy Brown, Heller Professor of Political Science, University of California–Berkeley, Montreal Gazette, on the equal application of state secularism

John Frendreis, professor, department of political science, Loyola University in Chicago, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, on Ron Johnson and libertarianism

John Hibbing, professor, department of political science, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Omaha World-Herald, on the compatibility of the Tea Party's fiscal conservatism with the political cultures of Nebraska and Iowa

Jane Junn, professor, department of political science, University of Southern California, UPI, on Asian and Latino responses to global warming

Lorenzo Morris, professor, department of political science, Howard University, Black Voice News, on the role of blacks in the midterm elections

Bernard Rowan, professor, department of political science, and chairperson, department of history, philosophy, and political science, Chicago State University, Korea Times, on what developing nations can learn from Korea.

Lester Spence, professor, department of political science, Johns Hopkins University, NPR, on black voter turnout in the November elections