The Rodel Institute is delighted to announce the shortlist finalists for its 2025 Edwards Book Award. The Edwards Book Award is an annual prize recognizing books that make an outstanding contribution to the to the understanding and practice of democracy and American politics. The prize carries an honorarium of $10,000.

The Rodel Institute received a large volume of book nominations this year. The following nonfiction books published in 2024 were selected as shortlist finalists. This year’s four finalists offer wide ranging perspectives on both the development and dismantling of political institutions over the past several decades as well as a compelling examination of the cultural resources necessary to build national solidarity and help sustain liberal democracy in America.

The winning book will be announced in September. The University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy will host the award ceremony on September 25, 2025 featuring the winner as a keynote speaker. Journalist and biographer Jonathan Eig received last year’s Edwards Book Award for his book King: A Life.

A committee of past Rodel Fellows, external academic advisors, and Rodel Institute staff select the longlist, shortlist, and winner. This year’s award committee is comprised of Rodel Fellows Ginger Nelson (former Mayor of Amarillo, TX), Larry Obhof (former OH Senate President), and Warwick Sabin (former AR State Representative). The committee’s academic advisors are Ian Solomon, Dean of UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, and Jennifer Siegel, the Bruce R. Kuniholm Distinguished Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University. Additionally, Rodel staff members John Kroger and Lizzy McCourt Noonan serve as members of the award committee.

The award is named in honor of former Congressman Mickey Edwards. Mickey has inspired generations of American public servants and students as a member of Congress; faculty member at Harvard, Princeton, and American Universities; author of highly respected books on the American political process; and founding executive director of the Rodel Fellowship, the nation’s premier bipartisan leadership development program for elected leaders.