Two professors at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs are winners of the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) annual book awards.

Rafaela Dancygier is winner of the Gregory Luebbert Best Book Award for her book, “Dilemmas of Inclusion: Muslims in European Politics,” and Deborah Yashar is winner of APSA’s Comparative Democratization Section 2019 Best Book Award for her book, “Homicidal Ecologies: Illicit Economies and Complicit States in Latin America.”

Dancygier is associate professor of politics and international affairs. Her research focuses on comparative politics, specifically international immigration and ethnic diversity. “Dilemnas of Inclusion” explains the impacts of the growing presence of minority groups in European politics. The book is being honored for its emphasis on comparative politics and previously received the 2018 Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research.

Yashar is professor of politics and international affairs, editor of the academic journal World Politics, and co-chair of the Social Science Research Council’s Advisory Committee for the Anxieties of Democracy Program. Her research focuses on democracy and development, with particular attention to citizenship, ethnic politics, and violence. 

Yashar’s book, "Homicidal Ecologies," explains Latin America’s extremely high and uneven homicide rates in light of the changing geography of transnational illicit political economies; the varied capacity and complicity of state institutions tasked with providing law and order; and organizational competition to control illicit territorial enclaves. APSA’s Comparative Democratization Section honored the book with its annual award, “given for the best book focusing on democratization and/or the development and dynamics of democracy and authoritarianism.”

The APSA was founded in 1903 and is a professional organization created for the study of political science. With members from more than 100 countries, the APSA is driven to strengthen people’s knowledge on politics by connecting political scholars. The two awards are given annually at APSA’s Annual Meeting & Exhibition, an event to engage people in the many aspects of politics while awarding individuals for their personal work.

The 2019 Exhibition focuses on “Populism and Privilege” and will be held Aug. 29 – Sept. 1, in Washington, D.C., where Dancygier and Yashar will receive their awards.