W. Michael Johnston, a professor of political science at Colgate University, has been named the winner of the 2009 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order, the Louisville institution announced today.

The prize, which carries a $200,000 award, honors Mr. Johnston for ideas he set forth in his 2005 book Syndromes of Corruption: Wealth, Power and Democracy (Cambridge University Press). The book, according to its publisher, analyzes different forms of corruption in different societies, based on factors such as how people pursue wealth and power, and the strength of political and social institutions that sustain or check those processes.

In the award announcement, Mr. Johnston says that understanding of how corruption develops in a particular country can help stop it more effectively.

The Grawemeyer awards were created in 1984 by Charles Grawemeyer, a University of Louisville alumnus, and are given by the Grawemeyer Foundation in five categories to honor creative works and ideas in the arts, humanities, and sciences. The 2009 prize in music composition was announced on Monday. Winners in the other categories — education, psychology, and religion — will be announced later this week.

More information about the awards can be found on the foundation’s Web site. —Charles Huckabee