Herbert P. Kitschelt Awarded the 2025 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science

Herbert Kitschelt is the 2025 recipient of the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science. Kitschelt, who is Distinguished Professor in Comparative Politics at Duke University in the USA, is honored for his groundbreaking research on party systems. He is awarded the prize for " having increased knowledge of the functioning of democratic party systems with exquisite theoretical acuity and impressive empirical breadth and depth."

Kitschelt is primarily known for his studies on how European multiparty systems are structured. He received his Ph.D. from Bielefeld University in 1979. Throughout his career, he has investigated how political parties, in competition with each other and as a result of changing attitudes and behaviors within the electorate, have shaped party systems, primarily in post-industrial societies with multi-party competition.

Crucial Contributions to Understanding How Today's Parties Compete for Voters' Support

Kitschelt's studies have increased our understanding of how European politics functions today. He was one of the earliest researchers to study the emergence of the new green parties in Western Europe in the 1980s. He also studied the factors behind the liberalization of many social democratic parties' economic policies that occurred at the same time. Above all, he pioneered comparative research on the rise of radical right-wing parties in the 1990s Europe. Just as Kitschelt's research has been important for understanding developments in established democracies in Western Europe, he has also made several important contributions to the formation of party systems in the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe.

Party systems are structured in different ways. In clientelist party systems, the relationship between voters and political parties is transactional rather than ideological convictions. In these systems, candidates often offer material benefits or rewards, such as jobs or other compensation, in exchange for voters' support. On a more global scale, Kitschelt has provided important insights into the differences between ideological and clientelist party systems, both in their emergence and formation. Importantly, his research has shown that clientelist party systems do not necessarily disappear as societies develop. Instead clientelist parties adapt to new conditions as education levels, prosperity, and the middle class increase.

Together, Kitschelt's contributions not only provide insights how party systems have evolved historically, but also for analyzing the relationship between political parties and voters today. It is for these contributions that he is now awarded the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science.

Political Science's Own "Nobel Prize" Linked to the World's Oldest Professorship in Political Science

The Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science is internationally regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in political science. Previous laureates include Elinor Ostrom, Robert Dahl, and Jürgen Habermas. The prize is awarded annually by the Johan Skytte Foundation to the person or persons who have made "the most significant contributions" in political science. This year marks the 30th anniversary since the first prize was awarded. The Prize consists of a prize amount of 500,000 SEK and a silver medal, both of which are funded by the rents from the donation which the then Chancellor of the University, Johan Skytte, made in 1622 to fund a Professor Chair in Eloquence and Political Science at Uppsala University. The Johan Skytte Professor Chair in Eloquence and Political Science still exist, making it the oldest Chair in Political Science in the world. Li Bennich-Björkman is the current and 22nd person to hold the Johan Skytte Professor Chair, and also head of the Prize committee.

Read the prize announcement article, penned by Professor Skytteana Li Bennich-Björkman, here.

Press contact:

Markus Sjölén

markus.sjolen@statsvet.uu.se 

+46 736 56 88 03