School of Social and Political Science

Research interests

Research interests

I was recently a co-investigator on a research project, funded by the Open Society Foundations, focused on what political and policy decision-makers think about: the current challenges to representative democracy; new mechanisms and processes of democratic participation and citizen engagement; and the barriers to democratic renewal. The project report is available here.

I am also currently researching the social and political representation of political and social policy issues in narrative and documentary film. I explore these issues in my honours-level course, Screening Social Policy.

Roles and responsibilities

• Curriculum Transformation Implementation Lead for the School of Social & Political Science.
• Screening Social Policy (undergraduate honours), course convener and lecturer.
• Evidence, Politics & Policy (undergraduate pre-honours), course convener and lecturer.

Biography    

I completed a PhD in International Relations at the University of Edinburgh in 2012, which read European integration through the lens of classical realism. Between 2012 and 2021, my work was focused mostly on British politics, in particular on constitutional change and foreign policy. During 2013-14, I served as the expert adviser to the Scottish Parliament's European and External Relations Committee. In 2017, with colleagues at Edinburgh, I authored the book Publics, Elites and Constitutional Change in the UK. I also continued to work on the EU, serving as lead editor on three editions of the textbook The European Union: How Does it Work?

I was first appointed as a lecturer in Politics & International Relations in 2012, moving to Social Policy in 2015. I have served as deputy director of the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (2012-2013), deputy director of the University's Academy of Government (2013-16), special adviser to the senior vice-principal/provost (2016-2017), and director of teaching quality for the School of Social and Political Science (2017-2019). In 2019 I was a DAAD Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, where I worked on Brexit and EU security policy. In 2020 I was a visiting researcher at Carleton University in Ottawa. During my research leave in 2023 I taught at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland.

Publications

forthcoming. Public policy in the UK. In A. Convery (ed.) UK Politics: Dynamics, Diversity, Territory. London: SAGE. 

2024, forthcoming. Social policy attitudes in the UK: Distinguishing welfarism from statism. Social Policy & Society. [with J. Eichhorn and D. Clegg]

2024. Public understandings of welfare and the economy: Who knows what and how does it relate to political attitudes? Social Policy & Administration, 58 (3): 344-67. [with J. Eichhorn and H. Bennett]

2023. (Not) Talking about a revolution: Engaging with political decision-makers about democratic innovation in Germany, France and the UK. D|PART: Think Tank for Political Participation Research Report. [with N. Eilers, F-X. Demoures and J. Eichhorn] Here.

2022. (ed.) The European Union: How Does it Work? 6th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [with A. Hadfield and R. Corbett]

2021. Who wants a referendum on EU membership? Exploring public attitudes in six member states. Journal of European Integration, 43 (3): 365-83. [with J. Eichhorn and C. Hübner]

2020. Legal professional privilege of advice of the Attorney General: The case of Brexit advice. Coventry Law Journal, 24 (2): 81-87. [with S. MacLennan]

2019. Brexit and the future of two Unions. Online teaching supplement. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [with J. Peterson and R. Corbett]

2018. (ed.) The European Union: How Does it Work? 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [with J. Peterson and R. Corbett]

2018. Devolution commissions in the shadow of Whitehall: The Smith Commission and the creation of a ‘powerhouse Parliament’. British Politics, 13 (4): 484-504. [with R. Parry]

2017. Elites, Publics and Constitutional Change in the UK: A Missed Opportunity? Basingstoke: Palgrave. [with J. Eichhorn, R. Parry, L. Paterson and A. Remond]

2017. Releasing the Lockerbie bomber: National interests, intergovernmental relations, and para-diplomacy. Scottish Affairs, 26 (4): 411-34. 

2017. Precedents, parliaments, and foreign policy: Historical analogy and the House of Commons’ vote on Syria. West European Politics, 40 (1): 62-79. [with J. Kaarbo]

2016. A tale of one city? The ‘Devo Manc’ deal and its implications for English devolution. The Political Quarterly, 87 (4): 572-81.

2016. ‘No, Prime Minister’: Understanding the House of Commons’ vote on intervention in Syria. European Security, 25 (1): 28-48. [with J. Kaarbo]

2016. The constitution and the economy under the SNP. Scottish Affairs, 25 (1): 8-27.

2016. (ed.) The SNP in Power, 2007-2016. Special issue of Scottish Affairs, 25 (1). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 

2016. Perspectives on small state security in the Scottish independence debate. In A. Neal (ed.), Security in a Small Nation. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers. (pp. 21-48). [with J. Kaarbo]

2015. (ed.) The European Union: How Does it Work? 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [with J. Peterson and R. Corbett]

2014. Sincere cooperation, respect for democracy, and EU citizenship: Sufficient to guarantee Scotland’s future in the EU? European Law Journal, 20 (5): 591-612. [with S. MacLennan]

2014. How do you solve a problem like Scotland? A proposal regarding EU internal enlargement. Journal of European Integration, 36 (6): 585-600. 

2013. Realist visions of Union: E.H. Carr and European integration. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 41 (2): 221-46. [with K. Kostagiannis]

2012. The Scotland Bill: Whence and whither? Scottish Affairs, 2012, 79 (1): 1-35.

2012. Commercial interests and calculated compassion: The diplomacy and paradiplomacy of releasing the Lockerbie bomber. Diplomacy & Statecraft, 23 (3): 555-75.

2012. Concordats and international relations: Binding in honour only? Regional & Federal Studies, 22 (1): 61-85.

Topics interested in supervising

I welcome PhD inquiries in the broad area of British government, politics, and social policy. I am especially interested in research proposals that bridge the study of government, politics, and policy, on the one hand, and aesthetics or visual studies, on the other.

• PhD in Politics
• PhD in Social Policy
• MSc (R) Politics
• MSc (R) Social Policy