2026 CPSA Prize in Comparative Politics

Winners: David P. Auerswald, Philippe Lagassé, and Stephen M. Saideman

Overseen or Overlooked? Legislators, Armed Forces, and Democratic Accountability

Excerpt from jury report: Overseen or Overlooked is an impressive study of legislative oversight of the military. Encompassing 15 democratic countries—from Westminster systems and consensual democracies to presidential systems—across multiple continents, this path-breaking work is remarkable in scope and makes an invaluable contribution to the literature on democratic civil-military relations, which has tended to focus on the executive. The book shows that while most democratic legislatures may have the capability, they often lack the motivation to conduct robust oversight. It concludes that the number of defense committees is critical for addressing the principal–agent problem in legislative–military relations. It also offers important policy recommendations to strengthen military accountability in democracies