Yale Political Science Professor Named Carnegie Scholar

Ian Shapiro, chair of the political science department at Yale University and a recent inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is among the first group of 12 Carnegie Scholars awarded a total of $1.1 million to support innovative scholarship and policy-focused research in education, international development, democracy, and international peace and security.

The monetary award is to be shared among the 12 scholars, with each of them receiving up to $100,000 over the next two years. Chosen in a highly competitive process, Shapiro’s award will support the research and writing of his project on democracy and distribution in the United States.

“We believe individual scholarship such as Dr. Shapiro’s is an important asset in our democratic process where new policy solutions must be supported by credible research and analysis,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York.

In announcing the awards, the Carnegie Corporation issued this statement: “Shapiro explores why the American political system does not redistribute more income and wealth to the bottom quintile of the population and how this situation might be changed. He examines the problem from both the demand side, asking why there is not more pressure for redistributive policies that would benefit those at or near the bottom, and the supply side, asking why politicians and political elites do not try to put more redistributive policies on the table. His investigation will lead to an evaluation of different policy initiatives that might make American democracy more responsive to the interests of the poor and the near-poor.”

Ian Shapiro was born in South Africa and earned a B.Sc. in philosophy and politics from Bristol University, U.K., in 1978. He holds an M.Phil. (1980) and Ph.D. (1983) in political science from Yale University as well as a J.D. from Yale Law School (1987). Books written by Shapiro include “Democratic Justice,” “Democracy’s Place” and “Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory: A Critique of Applications in Political Science.”