UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Two Penn State political scientists are among the researchers recognized by the British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Matt Golder and Sona N. Golder, both associate professors of political science, along with William Roberts Clark, the Charles Puryear Professor of Liberal Arts and head of the department of political science at Texas A&M University, received the Brian Barry Prize in Political Science for their study, "An Exit, Voice, and Loyalty Model of Politics."
The study provides a game-theoretic model that captures the key elements common to most, if not all, political situations. The model emphasizes the strategic interdependencies in the use of power, and explains which actors have power and why they have it. To highlight the commonalities that exist in the use of power across apparently disparate political phenomena, the authors use their model to examine how economic development, natural resources, inequality, and foreign aid affect the democratization process.
The British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences awards the medal in partnership with Cambridge University Press and the British Journal of Political Science in honor of Brian Barry, a political philosopher and founding editor of the journal. The prize is awarded annually for excellence in political science, as displayed in an unpublished essay.
Lord Nicholas Stern, president of the British Academy, presented the awards on Sept. 27.
"We are delighted to celebrate the success of this year’s winners, who have excelled in scholarship, research and promoting public understanding across the humanities and social sciences," Stern said. "These awards play an important part in the academy’s work to support and recognize academics at every level of their career, and I am pleased to see the breadth of work taking place across the academy’s disciplines."