Saga Sjöberg and Thijs Brinksma win Political Science bachelor’s thesis prizes 2024
All students receiving their bachelor diploma in Political Science last week had a reason or two to celebrate. Two of them especially so: they won the annual award for the best thesis in the International Relations and Organisations and the Politicologie/Internationale Politiek programmes. Congratulations, Saga Sjöberg and Thijs Brinksma!
International Relations and Organisations thesis prize
The Leiden and The Hague bachelor programmes in Political Science each have a thesis prize. The prize for the best thesis in the specialisation International Relations and Organisations (IRO) is awarded anually since 2020. This year, the jury consisted of Nicholas Blarel, Nikoleta Yordanova and Babak RezaeeDaryakenari. They faced the challenge of picking the best thesis from a shortlist of thirteen theses, nominated by the instructors of the so-called IRO bachelor projects.
The jury evaluated these theses based on the excellence of the research question, social relevance, theoretical framework, empirical analysis, and policy implications. After careful deliberation, the jury agreed on one winner and one honourable mention.
‘A fresh and original perspective’
The 2023-2024 IRO thesis prize was awared to Saga Sjöberg for her thesis How, if at all, does motherhood affect environmental advocacy among politicians? An analysis of Swedish national parliamentarians’ environmental advocacy before and after becoming mothers. According to the jury, the thesis ‘offers a fresh and original perspective, making innovative use of newly collected data to analyse environmental policymaking.’
Sjobërg demonstrates how how personal factors, such as motherhood, can influence political behaviour. The jury was impressed by her research design: ‘both rigorous and systematic, offering a thoughtful examination of potential confounders and alternative explanations. A valuable contribution to our understanding of environmental policy dynamics!’ These compliments, of course, also extend to Corinna Jentzsch, who supervised this thesis.
Honourable mention: Lennart Engel
The jury was almost equally charmed by Lennart Engels thesis. Sponsors of Death? A Quantitative Analysis of Nonstate External Support and Rebel Group One-Sided Violence was praised for its ‘meticulous study of the impact of external support on violence committed by rebel groups’. The thesis supervisor was Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl.
Van den Berg Prize (Politicologie and Internationale Politiek)
Students in the bachelor programme Politicologie and the specialisation Internationale Politiek are, if nominated by their thesis supervisors, eligible for the Van den Berg Prize.
The jury for this edition (the first Van den Berg Prize was awarded in 2010) consisted of student representative (and chair) Gijs Verhoeff, Joop van den Berg, and instructors Leila Demarest and Marco Verschoor. They faced the difficult task of picking a winner from the seven shortlisted theses, ‘all of a high standard’.
One thesis, however, stood out for its social relevance: Coercion and Accommodation: Crisis Bargaining between Turkey and Iran in the Syrian Civil War, written by Thijs Brinksma and supervised by Ivan Bakalov.
‘Very topical and socially relevant’
Brinksma investigated how Turkey and Iran negotiate during the civil war in Syria. Contrary to what one may think, Iran’s position can be qualified as constructive, rather than aggressive. Even in times of crisis, it strives for good relationships with Turkey. ‘The author goes against the stereotypical van Iran’s foreign policy; this makes for both a very topical and socially relevant thesis’, according to the jury.
The jury further acknowledges Brinksma’s command of the literature, as well as his applied empirical method: ‘careful and detailed’. ‘The main aspects of crisis bargaining theory were taken into account and developed. At the same time, the author is aware of the limitations of his research, and offers valuable recommendations for future inquiry.’