Awards - Wilma Rule Award: IPSA Award for the Best Research on Gender and Politics

The Wilma Rule Award on Gender and Politics, established in 2000 at the IPSA World Congress, recognises the best paper on gender and politics. Named in honour of Wilma Rule, it promotes research on women’s participation, representation, and barriers to political power. Eligible papers must be original and presented at the Congress, with nominations made by panel convenors or chairs. Open to all scholars, the award reflects Rule’s influential work on electoral systems and representation. It carries a prize of $1,000 USD and is presented at the Congress closing ceremony, highlighting significant contributions to the study of gender and political life.

2025
Renee O’Shanassy
Paper: Glimpses of Feminist Hope: A 30-Year Review of Side Event Advocacy at the UN Commission on the Status of Women

2023
Mariana Gené and Carolina Glasserman Apicella
Paper: Informal Rules and Gendered Political Hierarchies: On the Experience of Women Deputies in the Argentine Congress

2021
Nayia Kamenou
Paper: Feminism Hijacked: Women, Gender and Political Agency in the Golden Dawn and the National Popular Front

2018
Ki-Young Shin, Jackie F. Steele, and Mari Miura
Paper: Does “Constituency Facetime” Reproduce Male Dominance? Insights from Japan’s Mixed-Member Majoritarian Electoral System

2016
Mona Lena Krook
Paper: Violence against Women in Politics: A Rising Threat to Democracy Worldwide

2014
Jennifer Marie Piscopo
Paper: Inclusive Institutions versus Feminist Advocacy: Women’s Legislative Committees and Caucuses in Latin America

2012
Amanda Gouws
Paper: Multiculturalism in South Africa: Dislodging the Binary between Universal Human Rights and Culture/Tradition

2009
Anne Marie Holli and Milja Saari
Paper: The Representation of Women in the Parliamentary Standing Committee Hearings in Finland

2006
Manon Tremblay
Paper: Democracy, Representation, and Women: A Worldwide Comparative Analysis

2000 (Co-Recipients)
Karen Bird
Paper: Gender Parity and the Political Representation of Women in France

and

Marian Sawer
Paper: Representation of Women: Questions of Accountability