Ford School graduate Michael Lerner (PhD ‘21) was awarded the American Political Science Association’s 2023 Harold D. Lasswell Award for his dissertation, "Green Catalysts? The Impact of Transnational Advocacy on Environmental Policy Leadership.“
The Harold D. Lasswell Prize is awarded annually for the best dissertation in the field of public policy. The award is co-sponsored by the Policy Studies Organization. It carries a prize of $1,000. Lerner will accept the award at the APSA Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, CA on August 30.
Lerner's dissertation examines the impact of transnational advocacy on the development of national environmental policy. Through this project, he aimed to understand the circumstances under which interactions between policymakers and transnational advocates systematically lead to increased government leadership in the adoption and spread of new environmental policies.
He studied comparative environmental politics with a broad interest in questions related to challenges and strategies for adopting timely policy responses to environmental change. The research focused in particular on policy advocacy, including corporate lobbying on climate change and the effects of transnational advocacy networks on the innovation and diffusion of environmental policy.
Ford School professors Barry Rabe and Charles Shipan served on Lerner’s dissertation committee. Lerner is currently an assistant professor of public policy and administration in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
