Parties, Elections and Governance

The group provides a forum for research concerned with the study of political parties (and their discontents), electoral politics, political institutions and governance processes, broadly defined.  

The centrality of political parties in both democratic and non-democratic systems has been called into question in recent decades, challenging fundamental perceptions about their role in political processes. Both globally and domestically, political and administrative arrangements associated with elections and wider governance processes have been tested –at times even found wanting – in the face of significant socio-political and economic challenges. The development of populism and the widespread perception amongst citizens of declining social and economic outcomes are often understood as consequences of these intersecting trends. This raises important questions for – and tests many of the assumptions of – conventional research.  

This group’s expertise is wide-ranging although broadly focused on these and related areas of inquiry. The group is committed to pluralistic scholarship, both theoretically and methodologically, and provides links with those working on these themes in other schools within the University of Bristol.