Research
I'm a governance and public administration specialist, and my work has ranged across local government, devolution and accountability — and, in recent years, public leadership in China and the net-zero agenda. The themes below organise that work; the full record sits on the Publications page.
I began with quangos — the subject of my MPhil thesis — and with the question that has shaped much of my career since: how is power held to account? Across early research appointments and my PhD on local government modernisation, that question played out through executive and scrutiny reforms, member allowances, the roles of councillors, local elections, departmentalism, community appraisals, consultations and boundary change. Since arriving at Liverpool I have extended it to UK devolved governance and, latterly, to a more managerial agenda — students' unions, workplace issues, and public leadership in China.
Governance, Public Administration & Local Government
The accountability of quangos and quasi-government, and the modernisation of British local government — executive and scrutiny reforms, member allowances, councillor roles, local elections, departmentalism and structure.
- Quangos & quasi-government
- Local government modernisation
- Member allowances
- Councillor roles
- Local elections
- Accountability
Devolution, Scrutiny & Constitutional Reform
How devolution reshaped the way legislatures hold the executive to account — committee scrutiny in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, studied comparatively and across constitutional settings. Includes a report used to inform the reform of Welsh governance.
- UK devolution
- Committee scrutiny
- National Assembly for Wales
- Consociational governance
- Constitutional reform
Public Leadership & Governance in China
Public leadership and governance in China — provincial perspectives on the promotion and performance of political leaders, the workings of the Chinese stock market, and the state's use of social media during COVID-19. Much of this work is with Dr Jiajing Sun.
- Public leadership in China
- Promotion & performance
- Government social media (WeChat)
- Chinese stock market
Key outputs
- Chinese leadership: Provincial perspectives on promotion and performance
- Social media interactions between government and the public: A Chinese case study of government WeChat official accounts on information related to COVID-19.
- Mechanisms and Performance of Chinese Bear Markets and Policy Suggestions
Net Zero, Innovation & Decarbonization
My latest completed project addresses the net-zero agenda: the relationships between innovation, governmental capability and carbon dioxide emissions. It includes global, comparative studies of decarbonization as a 'super-wicked problem' and a re-reading of the pollution haven hypothesis through 'climate capitalism'.
- Net zero
- CO₂ emissions
- Decarbonization
- Innovation
- Pollution haven hypothesis
- Regulatory quality
Key outputs
- Governmental Capabilities and Responsiveness: Global Investigations into CO2 Emissions and Decarbonization. The ultimate super wicked problem!
- Innovation, carbon emissions and the pollution haven hypothesis: Climate capitalism and global re-interpretations
- Regulatory Quality, Capitalism and Decarbonization: A Global Study
Students' Unions, Workplace & Higher Education
A more managerial line of enquiry: the changing functions of university students' unions in UK and comparative perspective, workplace issues, and the 'shared workplace' agenda.
- Students' unions
- Higher education
- Workplace issues
- Shared workplace agenda
Recurring threads
At various points across my career, I have also researched and published on:
- The NHS
- The UK Parliament
- National & regional elections
- The UK Civil Service
- The Chinese stock market
Research centre
- Advanced Methods for Big Data Analytics Research Centre