LASA Sections

The Donna Lee Van Cott Book Award honors the best book on Latin American political institutions. The author who receives the award will get a LAPIS sponsored panel in LASA 2025 where previous winners Ezequiel González Ocantos (University of Oxford), Rachel Schwartz (University of Oklahoma), Viviana Baraybar Hidalgo (University of Oxford) and Paula Muñoz (Universidad del Pacífico) will discuss the book. 

Nomination Information

• Deadline: 
  • The deadline to submit nominations is Sunday, January 26 2025 (Nominations or books received after that date will not be considered for the award).
    
    
• Eligibility:
  • Any solo-authored or coauthored full-length monograph on Latin American political institutions published in 2024 is elegible for the award. Edited volumes are not elegible. 
  • Only section members can nominate or self-nominate books for this award. 
    
    
• Nomination process: 
  • The nominations must be submitted via email to the members of the book award committee. The email should include: the title, the author, and a brief description of the book. 
     
    • Rachel Schwartz: rachel.schwartz@ou.edu
    • Sandra Botero: sbotero1@nd.edu
    • Nara Pavão: narapavao@gmail.com
      
      
  • A physical copy of the nominated book must be mailed to each of the three committee members to the addresses below. 
    
    
    • Rachel Schwartz
      University of Notre Dame
      130 Hesburgh Center for International Studies
      Notre Dame, IN 46556
      
      
    • Sandra Botero
      University of Notre Dame
      130 Hesburgh Center for International Studies
      Notre Dame, IN 46556
      
      
    • Nara Pavão
      Rua Bulandy 220, Várzea, Recife - Pernambuco
      50741-310 - Brazil
      You may need a phone number for international shipping. If that is the case contact Laura Gamboa (lgamboa1@nd.edu). 
      
      
  • As a precaution, we ask that authors also send a PDF of the book (page proofs are ok). Although the committee members would rather read books in print, we have had trouble with some presses