Michael Sulmeyer awarded PSA Walter Bagehot Prize for best dissertation in Government and Public Administration

Congratulations to Michael Sulmeyer, a recent DPhil Politics graduate, who has been awarded the Political Studies Association 2012 Walter Bagehot Prize for best dissertation in Government and Public Administration. The thesis was entitled Money for Nothing: Understanding the Termination of U.S. Major Defense Acquisition Programs.

More information on the Walter Bagehot Prize prize can be found on the PSA’s website here.

"The examiners argue that this is 'an original and persuasive analysis of the relatively rare cases of the termination of MDAPs (Major Defense Aquisition Programmes) in the US', and that 'the thesis is well-written, blending subtle analysis, conceptual clarity and sophistication'.

It is also a modern review and analysis of the relationship between the executive and the legislature and the role of the private sector in the military industrial complex. It is an important contribution to public administration and reminds us of the continuing existence and ever-changing role 'iron triangles.' Sulmeyer has contributed a thesis that analyses that rare phenomenon: the cancellation of a major US military project because the civil service and politicians lost confidence in the veracity of the information they received from the military. It is a thesis that expands our theoretical understanding and also has a wide 'real world' practical impact."