I am a political scientist, with research interests in comparative politics and government, political parties, elections and political participation. My work has focused on the response of parties to the challenges which they face, especially in terms of organisation and participation, with projects investigating the way they operate in relation to both electoral system design and multi-level governance within the UK and the wider European context.

My research has been published in journals such as 'Representation', 'The Political Quarterly', and the 'Australian Journal of Political Science', and also in a monograph for Routledge. I am presently a scientific partner for a study hosted by the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) examining how effectively Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent religious interests: http://www.releur.eu/index.html. The findings of this project will be published in early 2014, ahead of the European elections.

Comparative politics and government; Political parties and party organisation; Political participation and social capital

PPR433 Social Capital: Making Democracy Work 

PPR339 Elections, Voters and Political Parties

PPR224 Politics of the European Union

I graduated with a first class honours MA and PhD (university anniversary scholar) from the Department of Politics, University of Glasgow, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the University of Strathclyde, and also spent a period as a visiting researcher in the Department of Political Science, McGill University, Montreal. Prior to coming to Lancaster University, I was Course Director of the Duke University study abroad programme in Public Policy at the University of Glasgow. I have appeared as an expert witness in front of the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee, and act as both a project reviewer and rapporteur for the Economic and Social Research Council. I won the 2008 Political Studies Association prize for the best article published in politics.        

PhD (University Anniversary Scholar), Department of Politics, University of Glasgow