Capping off an intensive week-long study and discussion of the core principles and tools of public policy at the Hoover Institution Summer Policy Boot Camp, students are invited to apply their knowledge by researching and developing a policy proposal. Following the principles of Hoover scholarship, the proposals emphasize a specific recommendation using facts, data, and well-constructed arguments. The papers summarize the significance of the new policy and the expected result.
After review of each submission, Hoover Senior Fellows and Boot Camp Co-Directors Scott Atlas and Josh Rauh recognize participants each year with the Hoover Institution Summer Policy Boot Camp Director’s Award based on their outstanding work. The winning proposals demonstrate particular creativity in addressing complex policy issues.
Below please find a link to winning submissions from past years
2023 DIRECTOR'S AWARD WINNERS
Protecting Competition in the Marketplace: The Case for Reforming Non-Compete Agreements
By Warren Barge, Truman State University
Open Source, Open Democracy Enhancing Transparency in US Voting Systems Technology
By Jose Lupe Chavez, University of California–San Diego
Distortive Incentives and Resource Misallocation: Unveiling the Paradox of California’s Water Crisis
By Robert Huang, University of Southern California
SNAP Reform: Leaner Budgets and Healthier People
By Daniel Huguenin-Virchaux, University of Chicago
Housing First but Not Only, and Certainly Not Forever
By Henrique Krigner, Liberty University
Cumbersome Assessment Process Won’t Fix Ohio’s Education Woes
By William Rosenberger, Ohio State University
Reinvigorating Science Diplomacy in a New Era of Geopolitical Tension
By Anna Seidel, University of Oxford
2023 WITH DISTINCTION HONORS
Mahdi Al-Husseini, Praise Ayinla, Chad Beauchamp, Exequiel Caceres, Abby Carr, Carmel Cohen, Kenneth DeCrosta, Giana DePaul, Collin Dierssen, Clayton Elbel, Robert Eyfjord, Nina Gohel, Josh Gold, Sadie Golen, Evan Gong, Khenadi Grubb, Christian Karren, Laurent Kleinheinz, Ka Yi Lau, Stephan Lauer, Hongyi Liao, Robert Mack, Baillie McNitt, Mikhail Mikhaylov, Danielle Miller, Gabriella Morano, Maximilian Nguyen, Mackenzie Owens, Samuel Owens, Sihyun Park, Donald Parker, Hannah Perdue, Christopher Phillips, Salvador Reyes, Sara Roman, Sarah Ryan, Blake Sbrocco, Jason Parmajit Singh, Isaiah Spellman, Sachin Srivastava, Charles Stalzer, Raina Talwar Bhatia, Sam Treat, Shang Wang, Luke Williams, Jasmine Wu, Iván Zamorano
2022 DIRECTOR'S AWARD WINNERS
Reclaiming Sovereignty in Education: The Case for Charter Schools in Native North and South Dakota
By Elizabeth Bailey, Villanova University
The Graveyard of Empires: America, China, and the New Great Game in Afghanistan
By Neil Banerji, University of Oxford
Monetary Policy Making: A Case against Discretion
By Mason Hackmann, University of Chicago
Taming the Administrative State Leviathan: Restoring the Separation of Powers and Improving Public Accountability
By Anika Horowitz
Recalibrating Cyber Defense: Proposal for a Networked National Cyber Strategy
By Morten Hybschmann, political science student at the University of Copenhagen, sergeant in the Danish army, and student assistant in the Danish Ministry of Finance.
Informed Consent: The Marketplace of Ideas as an Imperative for Free and Open Elections
By Jayson Michael Warren
America and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership: The Case for a New Chapter of US-Asia Policy
By Zachary Wahab-Cheek, Postgraduate Student, London School of Economics and Political Science Don Lavoie Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University
2022 WITH DISTINCTION HONORS
Jason Check, Andrew Davenport, Miguel Del Valle, Sheldon Fraley, Amelia Frederking, Brandon Gustavo Garcia Perez, Gabriel Gral, Iris (Ziyi) Guo, Robby Kasten, Megan Kimball, Nicholas Kimble, Mary Koenigs, Daniel Koivisto, Rylie LaRue, Celia Luling, Christianna Martin, Eli Mckown-Dawson, Matthew Monsour, Pedro Morales, Ibrahim Murat Oztok, Spenser Nelson, Jedaiah Ngalande, Brandon Nydick, Jared Parke, Mahmoud Ramadan, Aakanksha Sangwan, Lavanyaa Saxena, Alexander Siegelman, Josue Silva, Lior Sirkis, Nicholas Stark, Ethan Teo, Muhammad Usama, Chaitanya Venkateswaran, Shereen Yusuff
2020/2021 DIRECTOR'S AWARD WINNERS
Turning the Page on the War on Drugs: A Balanced Approach to Bending the Curve of the Overdose Epidemic
By Connor Kubeisy, University of California–Berkeley
The Case for State-Based Work Visas
By Chaston Pfingston, Carnegie Mellon University
The Politics of Debt: A Plea for Fiscal Responsibility
By Marc Sabatier Hvidkjær, political science student at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2019 DIRECTOR'S AWARD WINNERS
Less Can Be More When Regulating Deepfakes
By Timothy Anderson, Stanford University
Introducing a Modified Good Samaritan Reduced-Price Mechanism to Combat Hunger and Food Waste
By Wenhao Winston Du, Vanderbilt University
Bad Seeds: A Case against Federal Farm Subsidies
By Nicholas G. Sileo, Princeton University
A Local Approach to the Opioid Epidemic
By Kaila Webb, Wellesley College
2018 DIRECTOR'S AWARD WINNERS
Reforming Land Use Regulations through Conditional Federalism
By Justin Hatherly, McGill University
Developing a Strategic Partnership with Poland to Enhance Deterrence against Russia
By Chelsea C. Michta, University of Cambridge
Clean Affordable Transportation for Our Future
By Shane Reed, University of Michigan
2017 DIRECTOR'S AWARD WINNERS
Modernizing Health Care Regulations to Lower the Costs of Medical Services
By Kishan Bhatt, Princeton University
Sanctioning Ships and Slush Funds: Countering North Korea’s Illicit Maritime Trade
By Brian J. Liu, University of Pennsylvania
Revisiting “Too Big to Fail”: A Better Approach for Regulating Systemic Risk
By John McDonough, U.S. Treasury, Office of Financial Research
Strengthening Intellectual Property Rights
By Austin W. McLaughlin, Cornell University
Countering Russian Propaganda While Providing Local- Language Services in the V4
By Danni Ondraskova, Wellesley College
Instituting PLOP to Help Shore Up the RSA
By Davis Parker, University of Georgia
The Director’s Award is awarded to the top essays submitted each year, with the selections based on participation during the program and the written policy proposal. The honor of completion “with distinction” is awarded to all other students who submit a satisfactory Policy Proposal Assignment. Winners of the Director’s Award are invited to attend a Hoover Institution board meeting and will receive a monetary award.
** Disclaimer: The winning proposals do not reflect the views of the Hoover Institution, Hoover Institution fellows, Stanford University, or the Hoover Institution Summer Policy Boot Camp program directors. The award is based on intellectual merit, as judged by the Hoover Institution Summer Policy Boot Camp program directors.
