Local Government Studies awards two prizes every year, the John Stewart Prize for Best Article and the George Jones Prize (Early Stage Career Researcher).
The names of the two prizes were chosen to remind today’s local government scholars of two of the subject’s pioneers: Professor John Stewart of the University of Birmingham and Professor George Jones of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
The John Stewart Prize and George Jones Prize prize are awarded annually following a rigorous process of review by members of the Local Government Studies editorial board. The judges were Dr Peter Eckersley of Nottingham Trent University; Professor Steve Leach of De Montfort University; and Professor Catherine Farrell of Cardiff University.
John Stewart Prize: The judges very much liked Fitzgerald’s approach to understanding resilience and how the ‘great survivor’ thesis of English local government may gloss over how councils have deflected (rather than absorbed) some of the impact of austerity. Her focus on how a number of small charities in deprived areas of London are affected by funding cuts means that the article addresses a substantive and topical issue in a novel way and has relevance both within and outside the academy.
George Jones Prize: The judges were very impressed with the authors’ use of the case study approach and the focus on grass roots democracy and the role of women. It was also refreshing to come across a study of these developments in an under-researched part of the world, and fascinating to see how local governance institutions emerge and develop in ‘greenfield’ contexts.
These two 2019 award winning papers have been made free to access until the end of 2020
