2016 EPS prizewinners announced

The Prize for the best article appearing in the previous year’s volume of our professional journal, European Political Science, has been awarded jointly to Katjana Gattermann (University of Amsterdam), Ariella Huff (House of Commons) and Anna-Lena Högenauer (University of Luxembourg).

Their prize-winning article Studying a New Phase of Europeanisation of National Parliaments was published in Volume 15 (89–107 doi:10.1057/eps.2015.56).

The award, which carries a prize fund of £500 from co-publishers Palgrave, will be presented at our General Conference in Oslo.

The Jury's task was to find a submission that 'makes a substantial contribution to the field of political science, with a special emphasis on articles that contribute to the understanding of new and innovative trends in political science or to innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the profession.'

They judged that the winning article pointed to a new trend in national parliaments in the EU, and that it argued for the need to redirect our studies of these parliaments to better capture this development. 

In particular, the authors argued that a new phase of Europeanisation is evident, where parliaments are increasingly 'mainstreaming' EU affairs, blurring the traditional distinction between national and European policies. 

After first demonstrating the existence of this trend, the authors argued that it should have significant implications for future research. This trend, and the discussion of how to capture it in contemporary research, is especially relevant for readers of EPS. 

Our Jury's verdict

'We found this to be an important academic contribution in at least three respects. 

First, the authors provide a systematic and documented overview of an important issue: To what extent does domestic decision making in EU member states take the existence of the EU directly into account? Their careful reasoning provides a useful benchmark against which future situations can be compared. 

Second, the article provides a remarkable summary of recent research about the mainstreaming of the EU after Lisbon. We are confident that EPS readers will find this especially useful.

Finally, we like the fact that the piece explicitly considers the prospects of a future research agenda in this area. For these reasons, this article clearly contributes to our understanding of new and innovative trends in political science.'

Jury members

Jonathon W Moses (Chair) Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Rein Taagepera University of California, Irvine
Gabriella Ilonzski Corvinus University of Budapest

Keywords: European Union, Europeanisation through Law