Kathleen Brown awarded Dutch-Flemish thesis prize
The 2026 Els Witte Annual Prize in Political Science has been awarded to Kathleen Brown. As a PhD candidate at Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science, she wrote a thesis on sovereign debt politics, risk, and state agency in emerging markets. According to the jury, which presented the prize on behalf of the Flemish Association for Political Science (VPW) and the Dutch Association for Political Science (NKPW), Brown’s dissertation combines ‘theoretical originality, empirical sophistication, and broad disciplinary relevance’.
The jury, consisting of Chendi Wang (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Ruth Carlitz (University of Amsterdam), Bram Wauters (Ghent University) and Nicolas Blarel (Universiteit Leiden) assessed ‘a very strong set’ of 15 dissertations. After extensive discussion, the jury decided to award this year’s Els Witte Prize prize to the thesis Deception, Risk, and Evasion: The Politics of Sovereign Debt in Emerging Markets, written by Kathleen Brown while she was a PhD candidate at the Institute of Political Science of Universiteit Leiden.
‘Creative measurement strategies, original empirical evidence, and a capacity to open new research agendas’
Brown’s dissertation, according to the jury, ‘is an outstanding example of theoretically ambitious and empirically inventive international political economy research.’ It also makes a ‘valuable empirical contribution by putting the focus the perspective of low-income governments from the Global South which face a different set of choices and shows why and how they adopt counter-intuitive strategies when facing debt distress (at least based on conventional wisdom).’
With ‘creative measurement strategies, original empirical evidence, and a capacity to open new research agendas’, Brown has provided new insights in sovereign debt, hidden state action, and the political economy of emerging markets, displaying a ‘combination of theoretical originality, empirical sophistication, and broad disciplinary relevance’.
‘A wonderful surprise’
Prize winner Brown feels ‘truly honored’: ‘It was a wonderful surprise to be recognized alongside a fantastic short-list of other dissertations. Winning the award was very unexpected! This award is also a real testament to the guidance I received from my supervision team at the Institute of Political Science. I was so fortunate to work with Dr. Matthew DiGiuseppe, Dr. Roos Haer, and Dr. Dan Thomas. All three were excellent mentors, very generous with their time for five long years, and gave thoughtful, critical feedback that significantly shaped my dissertation.’
About the Els Witte Prize
The Els Witte Annual Prize in Political Science has been awarded jointly by the Flemish Association for Political Science (VPW) and the Dutch Political Science Association for (NKPW) since 1985. The prize is open to PhD candidates who have defended their thesis at a university in Belgium or the Netherlands and whose research relates to Dutch or Belgian politics.
The criteria are the academic quality in theoretical and methodological-technical terms, the focus on the practice of politics, and the editorial presentation.
The prize is named after Els Witte, who made a name for herself in Belgium as a political historian and university administrator. The award ceremony takes place at the Politicologenetmaal, the annual workshop for political scientists in the Low Countries.