Psychological Governance

In order to better understand and respond to the challenges facing liberal democracies as well as authoritarian regimes, I believe that political scientists need to engage in direct research with those who actually occupy political office. In particular, we need to ask who they are, why they do it, and what they think or feel about a job that few of us would ever care to contemplate. At the same time, political elites are uniquely difficult to reach for academic research and the phenomena outlined above are even harder to observe. Analysing self-report survey and interview data from politicians in comparative contexts, as well as textual data and parliamentary records, my research seeks answers to important questions about good and bad governance by exploring the personalities, attitudes, emotions and behaviours of those with power.

My latest research…

GOVERNING IN AN AGE OF DISTRUST

Funded by the Leverhulme Trust

Politicians are singularly important in democracies for their work in creating legislation, representing constituents and holding government to account, but we know very little about how they appraise, cope and perform in a climate of extreme and generalised public distrust in anything political. Funded by a fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust, my last research project explored this topic using theories and methods from the field of political psychology. The following video provides an accessible summary of the project and its findings. This project also informs a book on the same topic titled Governing in an Age of Distrust.