The Herbert J. Storing Book Prize
Congrats to Dr. Cara Rogers Stevens!

Finalists for the 2025 Book Prize:
- Glorious Lessons by Richard Brookhiser
- Making the Presidency by Lindsey M. Chervinsky
- Religion and Republic by Miles Smith
- Thomas Jefferson and the Fight Against Slavery by Cara Rogers Stevens
The Ciceronian Society, in partnership with The Maibach Fund, is proud to announce the Herbert J. Storing Book Prize on American Federalism and Natural Law. This prize will recognize books of exceptional scholarly quality that focus on the ideas of the American Founders. (Michael C. Maibach was a student and friend of Professor Storing.)
Who was Herbert J. Storing?
Herbert J. Storing (1928-1977) was an American political scientist, best known for reviving the serious study of the American Founding. Walter Berns once called him “the most profound man I have encountered in the field of American studies.“
It can be said that prior to Storing, 20th-century scholars tended to study the American Founders through historicism, contextualism, and ideologically-driven history, confining the political thought of the Founders to self-interest and the practices and opinions of their times. In sharp contrast, Storing helped create a new approach to studying the American Founding, holding that the thought of the American Founders could and should be understood as timeless as man’s nature. For Storing, that meant engaging with the Founders’ arguments on their own terms and based on their ideas rooted in natural law – rather than exclusively reading them in light of the social, political, and economic conditions of their day. Storing did not dismiss the relevance of context, though, in acquiring an informed view of what the Founders thought. The Founders may have been men of their times, but individuals of their caliber speak across generations and their insights remain deeply relevant to the study of our Republic today.
Political theorists and those engaging with American political history and thought often know him best for his groundbreaking work on the Anti-Federalists, but his students also remember him as a great teacher. He concentrated on the role of republicanism, virtue, and statesmanship, but he also wrote on the subjects of slavery, race-relations, public administration, liberal education, and more.
Click here for a fuller account of Storing’s life, work, and legacy.
A bibliography of his works is available at the bottom of this page.
Criteria for Selection
We will award the author of a published, book-length project from any academic discipline. The focus of the book should address topics related to the American Founding Era, broadly conceived as the time from Benjamin Franklin’s Albany Plan (1754) to the conclusion of James Monroe’s Presidency (1825).
Winning works will be distinguished by their scholarly quality and their attention to the American republican tradition of self-government, federalism, natural law, virtue, liberty, and statesmanship.
The inaugural Prize will be awarded at our Spring 2025 Conference.
For the 2026 award, we will accept nominations for books published from July 1, 2023 through July 1, 2025. Nominations will be due by September 1, 2025.
While the Ciceronian Society is a Christian organization, nominated works need not be religious in character. However, work that is openly hostile to the role of religion and the church in public and private life will not be considered.
How will the Winner be Chosen?
The Storing Book Prize will be chosen by a panel of five judges. That 2025 panel currently includes:
- Mark David Hall (Regent University
- Justin Dyer (The Civitas Institute)
- Daniel McCarthy (ISI, Modern Age)
- Jonathan den Hartog (Samford University)
- William Schambra (Hudson Institute)
Nominations can be made using the form below.
What will winners receive?
The winner of the Storing Book Prize will be a guest at our Spring Conference, and will either give a talk on their book or be interviewed. They will also receive a cash prize of $5000, in addition to free registration and lodging for the event.
The winner must be present to receive the Storing Prize.
Nominations can be submitted below.
Five finalists will be announced early in the year and the winner will be recognized at the Spring Conference.
How can I support this award?
The Maibach Fund will provide the cash award itself. To help cover the related costs to sustain this award for years to come, we welcome your donations. To support the Herbert J. Storing Book Prize, please click here.
We also encourage you to spread the word far and wide!
Nominations for the 2025 Award are Currently Closed.
Nominations for the 2026 Award may now be made
Herbert Storing Bibliography
*Are we missing a work of Storing’s that you know about? Email us at info@ciceroniansociety.org so we can add it.
Books Authored or Edited by Herbert J. Storing
- Toward a More Perfect Union: Writings of Herbert J. Storing
- Edited by Joseph M. Bessette. (Washington, D.C.: The AEI Press, 1995).
- The Anti-Federalist: An Abridgment of The Complete Anti-Federalist
- Edited by Storing, abridged by Murray Dry from The Complete Anti-Federalist. (University of Chicago Press, 1985).
- What the Anti-Federalists Were For: The Political Thought of the Opponents of the Constitution
- (University of Chicago Press, 1981; reprinted in 2008).
- The Complete Anti-Federalist, 7 vols.
- Edited by Storing. (University of Chicago Press, 1981).
- What Country Have I? Political Writings by Black Americans
- Edited by Storing. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1970).
- The State and the Farmer
- Co-authored with Peter Self. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1963; paperback edition, 1971).
- Essays on the Scientific Study of Politics
- Edited by Storing. Author of “The Science of Administration: Herbert A. Simon.” (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962).
Articles by Herbert J. Storing
- “The Constitution and the Bill of Rights” in Robert Goldwin and William Schambra, eds. How Does the Constitution Secure Rights? (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1985).
- “The Constitutional Convention: Toward a More Perfect Union” in Morton J. Frisch and Richard G. Stevens, eds. American Political Thought: The Philosophic Dimensions of American Statesmanship. (Ithaca, IL: F. E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., 1983).
- “Frederick Douglass” – In Morton J. Frisch and Richard G. Stevens, eds. American Political Thought: The Philosophic Dimensions of American Statesmanship. 2nd ed. Ithaca, IL: Peacock, 1983).
- “Federalists and Anti-Federalists: The Ratification Debate” – In What the Anti-Federalists Were For. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.
- “The Federal Constitution of 1787: Politics, Principles, and Statesmanship” – In Ralph A. Rossum and Gary L. McDowell, eds. The American Founding: Politics, Statesmanship, and the Constitution. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1981.
- “American Statesmanship: Old and New” – In Robert Goldwin, ed. Bureaucracy, Policy Analysis, Statesmen: Who Leads? Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1980.
- “Foreword” to John Rohr, Ethics for Bureaucrats: An Essay in Law and Values. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1978.
- “Martin Diamond” – PS: Political Science & Politics (Fall 1977).
- “In Defense of the Electoral College” – Statement on Proposals for Direct Popular Election of the President of the United States, July 22, 1977.
- “Slavery and the Moral Foundations of the American Republic” – In Robert A. Goldwin and Art Kaufman, eds. Slavery and Its Consequences: The Constitution, Equality, and Race. Waldorf, MD: AEI Press, 1988. Also in Robert H. Horwitz, ed. The Moral Foundations of the American Republic. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 1986; reprinted in 2001.
- “The Founders and Slavery” – College xxviii, no. 2, (July 1976).
- “The ‘Other’ Federalist Papers: A Preliminary Sketch” – Political Science Reviewer (1976).
- “Liberal Education and the Common Man” – Unpublished essay written for a conference at Hillsdale College in February 1975.
- “A Plan for Studying the Presidency” – Proposal submitted to the White Burkett Miller Center at the University of Virginia in 1975.
- “The Presidency and the Constitution” – Unpublished essay from a speech delivered at Beloit College in March 1974.
- “The Achievement of Leo Strauss” – National Review 25 (December 7, 1973).
- “Interest Groups and the Public Interest” – With Peter Self. The State and the Farmer. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1963; paperback edition, 1971.
- “Introduction” to What Country Have I? Political Writings by Black Americans. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1970.
- “The Case Against Civil Disobedience” – In Robert A. Goldwin, ed. On Civil Disobedience. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969.
- “Introduction” to Charles C. Thach Jr., The Creation of the Presidency. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1969.
- “Foreword” to Paul Eidelberg, The Philosophy of the American Constitution: A Reinterpretation of the Intentions of the Founding Fathers. New York: The Free Press, 1968.
- “The Role of Government in Society” – Unpublished essay from a speech delivered at the University of North Carolina on February 25, 1967.
- “The Crucial Link: Public Administration, Responsibility, and the Public Interest” – Public Administration Review 24, no. 1 (March 1965).
- “Leonard D. White and the Study of Public Administration” – Public Administration Review 25, no. 1 (March 1965), 38–51.
- “The School of Slavery: A Reconsideration of Booker T. Washington” – In Robert A. Goldwin, ed. One Hundred Years of Emancipation. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1964.
- “Political Parties and the Bureaucracy” – In Robert A. Goldwin, ed. Political Parties U.S.A. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1964.
- Replies to Wolin and Schaar – American Political Science Review 57 (March 1963).
- “The Problem of Big Government” – In Robert A. Goldwin, ed. A Nation of States: Essays on the American Federal System. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1963.
- “William Blackstone” – In Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, eds. History of Political Philosophy. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1963, 1972; Chicago: University of Chicago, 1987.
- The Science of Administration: Herbert A. Simon – In Essays on the Scientific Study of Politics. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962.
- The Birch in the Cupboard – With Peter Self. Public Law (Winter 1960). Reprinted in The State and the Farmer, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1963; paperback edition, 1971.
- The “Chicago School” of Political Science – Unpublished essay from remarks delivered to graduate students at the University of Chicago, early 1960s.
- The Farmers and the State – With Peter Self. The Political Quarterly 29, no. 1 (January 1958): 17–22.
Further Reading
- Bessette, Joseph M. 2000. “Herbert Storing and the Problem of Democracy.” Political Science Reviewer 29:70–93.
- Carrese, Paul O. 2015. “Constitutionalist Political Science: Rediscovering Storing’s Philosophical Moderation,” American Political Thought 4: 259–288.
- Clor, Harry. 2000. “Our Problem of Moral Community: Lessons from the Teachings of Herbert Storing.” Political Science Reviewer 29:94–120.
- Cropsey, Joseph, 1995, “Foreword,” Toward a More Perfect Union, ed. Joseph M. Bessette, ix. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press.
- Dry, Murray. 1999. “Herbert Storing: The American Founding and the American Regime.” In Leo Strauss, the Straussians, and the American Regime, ed. Kenneth L. Deutsch and John A. Murley, 305–28. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Morgan, Douglas F., et al. 2010. “Recovering, Restoring, and Renewing the Foundations of American Public Administration: The Contributions of Herbert J. Storing.” Public Administration Review 70, 4 (2010): 621–633.
- Rossum, Ralph. 2000. “Herbert Storing’s Constitutionalism.” Political Science Reviewer 29:39–69.
- Tulis, Jeffrey K. and Nicole Mellow. 2018. Legacies of Losing in American Politics, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
- Zuckert, Michael. 2000. “Herbert J. Storing’s Turn to the American Founding.” Political Science Reviewer 29:9–38.
- Zuckert, Michael. 2018. “Two Great Americanists.” National Affairs (Spring): https://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/two-great-americanists.