DPIR’S Vicente Valentim wins top award for thesis on changes to norms in politics

Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow in Politics at Nuffield College Dr Vicente Valentim has won the European Consortium for Political Research’s  (ECPR) 2022 Jean Blondel PhD Prize for his thesis 'Social Norms & Stigmatized Political Behavior’.

The Prize is awarded annually for the best thesis in politics – widely defined to include International Relations, Political Theory and Public Administration – written in an ECPR member institution.

In his thesis, Dr Valentim explores whether and how norms related to politics change, taking norms associated with two major stigmas in advanced democracies – radical-right ideology and behaviour associated with previous authoritarian regimes – as his point of departure. 

In addressing the issue, Dr Valentim uses a number of observational approaches and complements his quantitative tests with qualitative analysis.

In awarding the prize to Dr Valentim, the jury remarked that they… ‘applaud this thesis, and we believe it deserves to be read widely.

‘As Vicente shows convincingly, only by understanding the root of the change can we know its direction – let alone identify effective interventions.’ 

Dr Valentim said: “I feel very humbled to win an award that was previously given to so many scholars I admire. I have been lucky to have excellent mentors and a net of supportive friends and family since the early days of my postgraduate studies. I would like to thank all of them deeply. ”

Dr Valentim’s research centres on how democracies generate norms against behaviour associated with authoritarianism, and how these norms erode. He is currently working on turning it into a book manuscript.

The ECPR are the leading scholarly society concerned with the research and teaching of political science in Europe.

Jean Blondel was Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute in Florence, and visiting professor at the University of Siena. He is particularly noted for his contributions to the theory of party systems, the comparative study of cabinets, and the relations between parties and governments.