I am interested in supervising students in the areas of

• Political Theory and Political Philosophy - analytic political theory, synthetic political theory, especially freedom, equality, power, democratic theory, theories of justice, rational choice theory, philosophy of social science.

• Public administration - especially politician-agency relations, public sector reform, Australian Politics - especially cabinet, career paths of politicians.

• Comparative Politics - all areas especially electoral systems, comparative legislatures, comparative executives, comparative party systems; collective action.

• British politics; all areas.

• Australian Politics - ministers; policy agendas.

• Political Sociology - collective action/mass mobilization; agency-structure; choice.

I joined arrived at the ANU as Professor of Political Science in July 2007 become Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Political Philosophy in 2017.  Previously I was Professor of Political Sceince at the  London School of Economics. Prior to the LSE I had held teaching appointments at Brunel University in West London and at the University of Oxford.

I received a First Class degree in Philosophy and Politics from Keele University in 1982, and a DPhil from Oxford University (where I studied at Nuffield College) in 1987. I was a Hallsworth Fellow at Manchester University in 1993-94, and Visiting Fellow at RSSS in 2000-01; Visiting Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) October-December 2007, Viisting PPE Fellow at the Free University of Amsterdam May-June 2019. I am Fellow of the Accademy Social Sciences Australia and Fellow of the Human Development and Capabilities Associaition.

I helped set up and am on the Executive Committe of a network of scholars 'Selection and De-selection of Political Elites' (SEDEPE) who are interested in the career paths of political elites. I was vice-Chair at the Citizens' Income Trust in the UK an organization educating people about a Citizen's or Basic Income for all to replace all other kinds of social welfare assistance.

I edited the Journal of Theoretical Politics from 1996 to 2014 and was Associate editor of Research and Politics 2014-18.

All of my research is informed by the rational choice approach which I have found myself defending against misinformed criticism for many years. The funny thing is, I always thought I was a critic of classical rational choice.

Having a very short attention span I work on many different projects at the same time. My main research projects are:

Methodology 

My book The Philosophy and Methods of Political Science, London: Palgrave, came out in 2016. There were symposiums on the book in Political Studies Review and Australian Journal of Political Science in 2017.  More recently I have published articles with Charles Miller and have chapters in several Methodology Handbooks

I am now extending this work looking at methods in moral and political philosophy, some of this joint work William Bosworth at the LSE with articles in European Journal of Political Theory and Review of Politics.  I have run panells on this methods in political philosophy at ECPR General Conference since 2016.

The Careers of Political Elites

There are many strands to my study of elite careers.

Pathways to Power: Australian Political Careers

ARC Discovery Grant DP21010101021  (Funding July 2021-June 2024)

This project maps the career structure of political elites and examines the de-sparation thesis suggesting that the convergence of elite careers produces worse policy outcomes.  Held with ANU colleagues Marija Taflaga, Matthew Kerby and Darren Halpin

The project aims to uncover the determinants of successful careers of elected and non-elected political elites. The project expects to generate new knowledge about elite career paths (politicians, political staff, media, interest group personnel and bureaucrats), examine the impact of political elites on the quality of government, and whether this has changed over time. The project should provide significant benefits to academics via theoretical
development of processes driving careers progression and establishing Australia as a benchmark case facilitatingfuture international collaboration. It will enhance the capacity of citizens and policy makers to assess the overalleffectiveness of governance and the regulation of political life.

The Accountability of Australian Cabinet Ministers’ 

ARC Award  DP0985196  2009-2011

This created a data set on Australian ministers, their longevity and factors that lead to their durability.  Numerous papers emerged from this project and also a book Keith Dowding and Chris Lewis (eds) Ministerial Careers and Accountability in the Australian Commonwealth Government  Canberra: ANU Press, 2012

Previously i had similar work on UK ministers published in various journals and in a book with Samuel Berlinski and Torun Dewan Accounting for Ministers Cambridge University Press 2012.

With Patrick Dumont I set up the academic network Selection and De-Selection of Political Elites (SEDEPE) which encourages data collection on political elites for comparative analysis.  We edit a book series Routledge Research on Political Elites which has over twenty books including Keith Dowding and Patrick Duomnt The Selection of Ministers in Europe (2009) and Keith Dowdng and Patrick Dumont (eds) The Selection of Ministers Around the World, 2015.

I am also involved in a project Elena Semenova on ministerial selection and de-selection in Central and Eastern Europe; and a project with Mattew Kerby and Jennifer Curtin comparing Westminister systems

Policy Agendas in Australia

ARC Discovery Project DP110102622 held with Aaron Martin of Melbourne University

Part of the International Comparative Policy Agendas initiative this project maps the process of policy formation within Austraiia over time.  With over a dozen publications in journals and edited books and Keith Dowding and Aaron Martin Policy Agendas in Australia (Palgrave) 2017.

Power and Freedom

I have long had an interest in the concept of power and freedom and their relationship.  I have published two books on power (Rational Choice and Political Power, Elgar 1991, and Power, Minnesota University Press, 1996 as well as many articles on both power and freedom. I edited The Encyclopedia of Power Sage in 2011. My book Power, Luck and Freedom: Collected Essays, Manchester: Manchester University Press was published in early 2017.  My book Rational Choice and Political Power with two new chapters was ire-issued by Bristol University Press in 2019.  A symposium on this book will appear in the Journal of Political Power in 2021. I am working on a project with Martin van Hees (University of Amsterdam) entitled 'Assessing Freedom'.

Public Policy

I have long been engaged with examining urban service-delivery (mostly with Peter John) our book  Exits, Voices and Social Investment: Citizens' Responses to Public Services Cambridge: Cambridge University Press was published in 2012.

I am combining with work on public policy with political theory notably freedom and responsibility.  My book Its the Government, Stupid 2020 argues that government tries to pin responsibility onto citizens for policy failures that are the government's own responsibility via the cult of individual responsibility.  I am working with a colleague Alex Oprea examining 'nudge' and other forms of regulation in relationship to freedom and responsibility.

Other Research 

My book co-authored with Brad Tayler Economic Approaches to Government is published by Palgrave Pivot in 2019

Chair

Edmund Handby 'Evaluating Models of Conceptual Change' (commenced Februrary 2018)

Panel Member

Lars Moen 'The Republican Dilemma: Liberating Republcanism, Sacrificing Pluralism', graduated 2020

Kelvin Lee 'Trust and Environmental Valuation: The Impact of Culture as a System' graduated 2019

David Monk ‘The Dominant Discourse of Central Bank Independence’, ANU graduated 2017

Adam Packer ‘The Difference Constitutions Make: A Global Inquiry into the Impacts of Institutional Design' ANU graduated 2014

William Bosworth ‘Concepts and Consistency in Political Argument’ ANU graduated 2014

Brad Taylor ‘Exit and Voice: Papers from a Revisionist Public Choice Perspective’ ANU graduated 2014

Andrew Klassen ‘Electoral Management Autonomy and Fair Elections: The Effects of Institutional Design on Public Perceptions’ ANU graduated 2014

Mhairi Cowden ‘Should Children Have Rights?’ ANU, graduated 2012

Michael Dalvean ‘The Selection of Ministers in the Australian Federal Parliament’, ANU graduated 2012

Matthew Laing ‘New Perspectives on Political Time: Populists, Prime Ministers and Perpetual Preemptionf’ (Chair Paul ‘t Hart), ANU graduated 2012

Joanne Lau ‘Culture and Obeying the Law’ (Chair Bob Goodin), ANU graduated 2012

Aaron Martin ‘Why Don’t Young People Vote? A Study of Advanced Democracies’ (Chair Ian McAllister) ANU, graduated 2010

Andre Alves ‘The Employment Effects of Welfare Regimes’ [with Valentino Larcinese] LSE, graduated 2009

Zsuzsunna Chappell ‘Deliberative Democracy and the Discursive Dilemma’ [with Christian List], LSE, graduated 2009

Rekha Diwakar ‘Determinants of the Size of Party in the Indian States’, LSE, graduated 2006

Daniel Rubenson ‘Is It Really about Bowling: How Institutions and Community Affect Participation in American Cities, LSE, graduated 2006

Stewart Astill ‘Networks that Form Policy: The Case of Pension Reform’, LSE, graduated 2006

Rotem Bressler-Gonen ‘Shirking and Shifting Policies: Uncooperative Political Appointees in Local Governments – the Case of Israel’, LSE, graduated 2005

Oliver Curry ‘New Evolutionary Ethics: An Adaptationist Account of Morality’, LSE, graduated 2005

Kennedy Stewart ‘“Persistent Losing” and Electoral Fairness in Four World Cities’, LSE, graduated 2003

Tom Quinn ‘Organizational Reform in the British Labour Party Since 1983’, LSE, graduated 2002

Oliver James ‘The “Next Steps” Agency Model in the UK Central Government 1988-98, with Special Reference to the Benefits Agency’ [with Patrick Dunleavy], LSE, graduated 2001

Yoav Schechter ‘Interests, Strategies and Institutions: Lobbying in the Pharmaceutical Industry in the European Union’, LSE, graduated 1999

Maijia Setala ‘Theories of Referendums and the Analysis of Agenda-Setting’ [with Brian Barry], LSE, graduated 1997

Andrew Hindmoor ‘Socialism and Entrepreneurship: A Rational Choice Approach to an Issue of Compatibility’, LSE, graduated 1996

Shlomo Mizrahi ‘A Theory of Constitutional Change: Game-theoretical Analysis of Socio-Political Processes in Poland, 1976-1981’ [with Brian Barry], LSE, graduated 1995