Comparative Politics
We are a leading centre for the study of comparative politics, with interests ranging from policy-making and institutions to political movements and ideologies.
We are pluralistic in our methods and modes of enquiry and sharpen these through open and critical debate. Core concerns across the cluster include questions of democracy, power, nationalism, the state, and the inequalities of gender and ethnicity.
Highlights
- Olga Onuch's ORA/ESRC funded project "Determinants of 'mobilisation' at home and abroad: Analysing the Micro-Foundations of Out-Migration and Mass Protest (MOBILISE)" (2019-2024, €2,002,039 total) asks the question: When there is discontent why do some people protest while others cross borders? And covers populations in Ukraine, Poland, Argentina, Marocco and Belarus, completing 10 nationally representative surveys, 2 protest surveys, 8 migrant surveys, 12+ focus groups, and 160+ interviews. Based at UoM Onuch led team of 17+ from the UK, Germany, France and Netherlands.
- Olga Onuch's IBIF (Identities and Borders in Flux: The case of Ukraine, 2019-2025) project collects a series of cross sectional and panel surveys in Ukraine. Funded by The British Academy under the "Tackling the UK's international challenges" funding scheme the project studies identity, public opinion, and political behaviour in Ukraine in the context of war.
- Nick Turnbull's "Interpreting the governance of human trafficking: Explaining policy practice," The Leverhulme Trust (Jan. 2025-Dec. 2028).
- Dave Richards is currently writing up a Nuffield-funded project on "Public expenditure planning and control in complex times: A study of Whitehall departments' relationship to the Treasury (1993-present)" (Jan. 2020-June 2025) examining public expenditure coordination, control and delivery between HM Treasury, Whitehall departments and their delivery agents and the challenges to achieving effective financial control of public expenditure. A book with Oxford University Press is forthcoming (Summer 2025) entitled "The myth of Treasury control: Public spending in an incoherent state." He is also PI, along with Andy Westwood on an ESRC The Productivity Institute project entitled "The UK productivity-governance puzzle: Are the UK's governing institutions fit for purpose in the 21st Century? Archives - The Productivity Institute" (2022-26). The project's most recent publication can be found here "Hyper-active incrementalism' and the Westminster system of governance: Why spatial policy has failed over time."
- Yoram Gorlizki's British Academy senior research fellowship (2024-25) on the authoritarian rule of law.
- Liz Richardson's ESRC-funded work on co-production Jam and justice (2016-19) created space for social innovation to co-produce, test and learn from new ways of governing cities, and understand how different groups could work together to achieve fairer and more inclusive outcomes.
- Cluster members contribute to the wider discipline through taking active roles in bodies like the PSA, ECPR, Policy@Manchester and the Manchester JMCE and organising prestigious events like the JMCE annual lecture.
People
- Dr. Jack Bailey Research specialisms: Economic voting, comparative study of elections, voting behaviour, quantitative methods.
- Dr. Nathan Critch, Research Associate: The UK productivity-governance puzzle: Are the UK's governing institutions fit for purpose in the 21st Century? Research specialisms: British politics, Parliament, the British state, public inquiries, depoliticization, crisis management.
- Professor Emerita Francesca Gains Research specialisms: public policy, policy agendas, gender and politics, British politics, devolution and local government.
- Dr Felipe Gonzalez Santos Research Associate: Determinants of "mobilisation" at home and abroad. Research specialisms: Social movements, protest, mixed methods research.
- Professor Yoram Gorlizki Research specialisms: Russian, Soviet and Eurasian politics, theories of dictatorship.
- Professor Peter Gries Research specialisms: Chinese politics and foreign policy, American foreign policy, US-China relations, the political psychology of international affairs, nationalism.
- Dr. Lotte Hargrave Research specialisms: Gender and politics, political behaviour, legislative politics, public opinion, British politics, quantitative methods, and survey research.
- Dr Nicole Martin Research specialisms: Elections and comparative politics, immigration, race and ethnicity, public opinion, candidates and representation.
- Professor Emeritus Kevin Morgan Research specialisms: Political ideas and ideologies, 20th-century British politics, European communism, labour movements and the radical left, political biography, interviewing and life-histories.
- Dr. Silviya Nitsova British Academy International Fellow, Divide and rule: Oligarchic political networks and patronalism in Ukraine. Research specialisms: money in politics, political economy, oligarchs, corruption, policymaking, reform, Ukrainian and Eurasian politics, social network analysis.
- Dr Timothy J Oliver, Research specialisms: British politics, international relations, British foreign policy, British political history, qualitative research methods.
- Professor Olga Onuch Research specialisms: Comparative politics of protest, elections, migration and identity, Eastern Europe and Latin America (Ukraine, Poland, Argentina, Brazil), surveys and language-based ethnographic fieldwork.
- Professor Dimitris Papadimitriou Research specialisms: EU politics and public policy, EU enlargement, EU external relations, varieties of capitalism, Greek politics.
- Professor Dave Richards Research specialisms: Public policy, governance, globalisation, state theory, political biography.
- Professor Angelia Wilson Research specialisms: American politics, religion and politics, gender and sexuality studies.
- Greg Agoston: gergely.agoston@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk; 'An alternative to ever-closer union: an analysis of how Eurosceptic rhetoric in Hungary contributes to political positioning in the contestation of European integration'. Supervisors: Nick Turnbull and Robert Ford.
- Cressida Arkwright: cressida.arkwright@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk 'Youth engagement in young democracies: Assessing the patterns, processes and impact of youth engagement in Ukraine.' Supervisors: Olga Onuch, Marta Cantijoch Cunill
- Daniel Baldin Machado: daniel.baldinmachado@manchester.ac.uk; 'Agenda gatekeepers: Policy processes, gendered institutions and status-quo maintenance'. Supervisors: Rosalind Shorrocks, Georgina Waylen, and Lotte Hargrave.
- Soham Banerjee: soham.banerjee@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk; 'The spatial politics of International Climate Finance (ICF): A case of India'. Supervisors: Matthew Paterson and Dishil Shrimankar.
- Robert Barnstone: robert.barnstone@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk; 'Do local party executives matter?' Supervisors: Louise Thompson and Maria Sobolewska.
- Connell Beggs: connell.beggs@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk; 'Soft power, hard times: Russian influence in the post-Soviet space during periods of military conflict'. Supervisors: Yoram Gorlizki, Vera Tolz.
- Francisco Espinoza: Francisco.espinoza@manchester.ac.uk: 'Social classes under neoliberalism in Latin America: a comparative analysis of political behaviour'. Supervisors: Jon Mellon, Olga Onuch, Maria Sobolewska
- Jingjing Huang: jingjing.huang-8@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk; 'Gambling with the state: Marginal actors in China's political process - A study of the LGBTQ+ student movement'. Supervisors: Ellie Gore and David Stroup.
- Yeqi Jin: yeqi.jin@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk; 'International bureaucrats' influences on climate adaptation policies within intergovernmental organisations'. Supervisors: Paul Tobin, Silke Trommer.
- Sarah Ledoux: sarah.ledoux@manchester.ac.uk; 'Interactivity, coherence and valuation towards citizens' demands on social media: Exploring political factors of legislators' online behaviour in Mexico and Brazil'. Supervisors: Marta Cantijoch, Rosalind Shorrocks.
- José Pedro Lopes: jose.lopes@manchester.ac.uk: 'Electoral support for radical-left parties in post-industrial societies'. Supervisors: Robert Ford, Maria Sobolewska.
- Anthony Noun: anthony.noun@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk: 'Building resilience of the political leadership to embrace and adopt a more citizen-centred local public services.' Supervisors: Liz Richardson, Nick Turnbull.
- Yixiao Zhang: yixiao.zhang-3@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk; 'Norms, institutions, global power competition – How do the US and China assume climate leadership in global climate governance?'. Supervisors: Paul Tobin, Matthew Paterson.
PhDs in Comparative Politics completed since 2018
- Temidayo Eseonu, 'A new-institutionalist exploration of the 'voice-of-colour' in public services delivery.'
- Chris Butler, 'How do parties in office respond to electoral incentives? A study into the positioning, issue prioritisation and perceptions of decision-makers in the UK.'
- Anna Sanders, 'The impact of gendered policies on women's voting behaviour: An analysis of the 2015 UK General Election.'
- Jolanta Shields, 'Community interest companies in the NHS: A trojan horse for marketisation?'
- Daniel Silver, 'Repurposing policy evaluation to learn about social transformation.'
- Lucky Benson, 'An examination of e-government in the delivery of public services in Nigeria: A policy transfer approach.'
- Ana Sanchez Santana, 'Understanding contemporary networked governance and regulatory capacity in Mexico: A study of oversight bodies in the process of regulation.'
- Matthew Crow, 'Social enterprise in the British political tradition.'
- Anthony Chambers, 'Do immigrant origin MPs represent immigrant origin voters?'
- Fadil Ersozer, 'The EU's green line regulation in Cyprus.'
- Mustafa Cirakli, 'Identity and citizenship amongst northern Cypriot settlers.'
- Puren Aktas, 'The diverse responses of physicians to the use of diagnosis-related groups in two publicly funded health care systems: a comparative study of England and Turkey.'
- Andrew Barclay, 'Seamless integration or parallel politics? The political participation of Jews in Britain.'
- Sofia Doyle, 'Staff-student sexual violence in the academy: Everyday insecurity, everyday resistance.'
- Ana Martinez Fernandez, 'Anti-abortion movements in Spain and Argentina: Actors, frames and actions.'
- Elisa Mendes Vasconcelos, 'Male dominance in the Brazilian bureaucracy.'
- Kenneth Rushworth, 'Electoral registration in Britain: Inequality, reform, and the prospects of automatic registration.'