The Barbara Sinclair Lecture Award is presented annually to honor achievement in promoting understanding of the U.S. Congress and legislative politics.
Steven S. Smith is professor of political science at Arizona State University and Kate M. Gregg Professor Emeritus of Social Sciences at Washington University. He has been on the faculty of the University of Minnesota, George Washington University, and Northwestern University, and was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He is the author or coauthor of many books and articles on congressional politics and coauthor, with Gerald Gamm, of a forthcoming book, Steering the Senate: The Development of Party Leadership in the U.S. Senate.
Citation from the Award Committee:
The selection committee noted that Professor Steven S. Smith has promoted understanding of the U.S. Congress and legislative politics in a wide variety of ways. He is one of the most prominent scholars of political institutions of the past 50 years, having authored 13 books and over 80 articles and book chapters. He has been a principal investigator on ten grants from the National Science Foundation, received numerous research and teaching awards, and served on several editorial boards. Professor Smith was director of the Weidenbaum Center for 20 years. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1980, and his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Cloud State University in 1975.
While many other Congress scholars of his generation have focused on the role and impact (or lack thereof) of parties, Smith’s research has shown the power of specific institutional procedures (e.g. the filibuster, special rules, judicial review, and more) on the policymaking process. While his early work focused more on the House, he has also worked extensively on the causes and consequences of procedural arrangements in the Senate. The focus on rules and procedure has allowed Professor Smith to make an impact on literatures in electoral politics, party politics, political communication, and legislative politics outside the U.S. system. Smith has written several textbooks and has been affiliated with Brookings for years, reflecting his strength in communicating scholarly research to broader audiences. He’s even contributed to several children’s books!
Finally, any discussion of Steve Smith’s impact would be remiss without mention of his former Ph.D. students throughout the academy. He’s at the top of his generation in terms of training students who go on to successful careers as academics themselves.
APSA thanks the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at the American University School of Public Affairs for its support of the award and the committee members for their service: Dr. David C. Barker of American University (Co-Chair), Megan McConaughey of APSA (Co-Chair), Dr. Cliff Carrubba of Emory University, Dr. Kris Miler of the University of Maryland, College Park, and Dr. Jessica Robinson Preece of Brigham Young University.
