天美传媒

Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Sciences

I am a Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Sciences and Continuation & Success Lead for BSc Criminology. I successfully defended my PhD thesis, entitled 鈥淗ow do nations control political finance and why do reforms occur? A nested mixed-method analysis of Political finance reform in Canada, New Zealand, and Commonwealth Caribbean Small States鈥�, at the 天美传媒 of Birmingham, in 2023. I am a comparative politics scholar with primary interests in electoral regulations, party systems, democratic institutions, and campaign finance. My present works focus on how inter- and intra-party dynamics influence the development of financing and electoral regulations.

I have achieved many milestones in my career to date, including solo- and co-authored research outputs in internationally renowned academic journals, such as听European Journal of Political Research, European Political Science Review,听Party Politics, Electoral Studies, Politics, and Parliamentary Studies, and receipt of prestigious awards such as the Michael K O鈥橰ourke Publication Award, Rosamund Davies Memorial Fellowship, Universitas 21 Fellowship, and Gill Blowers Award. I have a strong research base which comprises expertise in application of numerous research methods and traditions including, but not limited to, Principal Components/Multiple Correspondence Analysis, Factor Analysis, Hierarchical and Model Based Clustering, OLS and Logistic Regression, Process Tracing, Congruence Analysis, and Bayesian Inference. While I primarily hold expertise in quantitative methods, including regular use of R, I also have experience in qualitative study, and have published research using a mixed-methods approach.

I was solely responsible for the initiation, development, and delivery of the award winning (a global database of political finance regimes) and, working with a co-author at the KU Leuven Public Governance Institute, extended the project to develop the 鈥楻eferendum Campaign Finance Regulation Indicator鈥� (RefCFRI). Alongside my academic outputs, I hold a keen interest in studying election campaigns. My analysis of political spending during the 2020 US Election was quoted by ITV News and featured in The Conversation, while I have also made contributions to ECPR鈥檚 The Loop, 尝厂贰鈥檚 US Politics and Policy blog, PSA鈥檚 Political Insight magazine and the People, Power, Politics Podcast, in recent years.

At present, I am working on numerous projects including a monograph provisionally titled 鈥楶olitical Finance in Westminster Democracies: Competition, Governance, and the Politics of Reform鈥�, and comparative studies in areas linked to gender-targeted public funding, women鈥檚 parliamentary representation, public party funding, oversight, and corruption. In conjunction with these projects, I am in the early developmental stages of a study into political finance reform in small state contexts.

I am affiliated with the 天美传媒鈥檚 Institute of Humanities, Education and Arts Research (IHEAR). I am interested in supervising postgraduate projects in any area linked to my below research interests and am open to serving in an advisory capacity to quantitative/mixed methods projects in wider topic areas.

Other References

Qualifications

• PhD Political Science 鈥� 天美传媒 of Birmingham
• PGCert in Advanced Research Methods 鈥� 天美传媒 of Birmingham
• MA Criminology 鈥� 天美传媒
• BA Hons Criminology 鈥� 天美传媒
• Fellow of Advance HE

Teaching Expertise

• Crime and Politics
• Research Skills
• Quantitative and Qualitative Research
• SPSS

Research Interests

• Political Finance
• Democratic Institutions
• Comparative Research Methodologies
• Party Systems
• Machine Learning

Projects

• Developing the Regulation of Political Finance Indicator (RoPFI) - (2017-2022)

Publications

Journal Articles

• Forthcoming: 'Political Constraints, Public Party Funding, and the Regulation of Political Finance: A Global 天美传媒',听European Journal of Political Research听(with Iain McMenamin)
• 2025: 'Blessing or Curse? A Critical Review of the Paradoxical Consequences of Direct Public Funding for Political Parties',听European Political Science Review听(with Fernando Casal B茅rtoa)
• 2025: 'Scandals and Competition as Primary Drivers of Reform? A Congruence Analysis of Australian Political Finance (1980鈥�2020)', Party Politics, 31(1) pp.1-17. doi: 10.1177/13540688231202600.
• 2024: 'Introducing the Referendum Campaign Finance Regulation Index (RefCFRI): A Continuous Indicator Comparing the Level of Regulation in 143 Countries',听Politics听(with Toine Paulissen)
• 2024: 'Which MPs get Elevated to the UK House of Lords?', Parliamentary Affairs听(with Stephen Holden-Bates, Caroline Bhattacharya, and Stephen McKay)
• 2022: 'Model based clustering of political finance regimes: Developing the Regulation of Political Finance Indicator', Electoral Studies, 79 (1) pp.1鈥�12. doi: 0.1016/j.electstud.2022.102524. *Winner of the 2023 Michael K. O鈥橰ourke Best Publication Award
• 2018: 鈥楳arx鈥檚 Renaissance: Explaining the Growth of the left in the UK and beyond鈥�, Political Insight, 9 (3) pp.16-19. doi: 10.1177/2041905818796575.

Published Datasets

• 2024:听Referendum Campaign Finance Regulation Index (RefCFRI) v1.0.听URL:
• 2022:听Regulation of Political Finance Indicator (RoPFI) v1.0.听URL:

Research reports

• 2019: Measurement Tools for Comparative Political Finance: Excessive Reductionism or Valuable Simplicity? Electoral Regulation Research Network and Democratic Audit of Australia Working Paper Series No. 54. Available at:

Other publications

• 2025: 鈥楶eers elevated to the House of Lords after a career in the House of Commons are often merely being rewarded for loyalty 鈥� new study鈥�,听The Conversation, 4 April (with Stephen Holden Bates and Caroline Bhattacharya). URL:
• 2024: 鈥楾he 2024 General Election in the United Kingdom: A Victory for Labour and Record-Breaking Defeat for the Conservatives鈥�, WhoGoverns.eu, 8 July. Available at:听
• 2024: 鈥楢ll About Money? Elections, Campaign Spending and the Effects on Democracy鈥�, People, Power, Politics Podcast, 24 May. Available at:
• 2022: 鈥楢 novel dataset of global political finance regimes鈥�, ECPR The Loop, 10 October. Available at:
• 2022: Regulation of Political Finance Indicator (RoPFI) Dataset, v1.0. Available at:
• 2021: 鈥楾he Parliament of New Zealand鈥�, PSA Parl: Parliamentary Overviews, 20 April. Available at:
• 2020: 鈥楾he 2020 election was the most expensive in history, but campaign spending does not always lead to success鈥�, LSE US Politics and Policy, 27 November. Available at:
• 2020: 鈥楾he scale of US election spending explained in five graphs鈥�, The Conversation, 15 October. Available at:
• 2020: 鈥楾en years on, the legacy of Citizens United still threatens representative democracy in the United States鈥�, LSE US Politics and Policy, 21 January. Available at:

Conference presentations (last 5 years)

• 2025: 'Does Public Money Talk to Women? A Global Analysis of Gender-targeted Electoral Financing and Female Parliamentary Representation (1990-2024)鈥�, Rethinking Political Finance: Political, Philosophical and Economic Perspectives, Monash 天美传媒 Prato Centre, Tuscany, 25-27 June (with Fernando Casal B茅rtoa and Halfdan Lynge).
• 2025: 鈥楶olitical Finance in Westminster Democracies: Competition, Governance, and the Politics of Reform鈥�, PSA 75^th Annual International Conference, 天美传媒 of Birmingham, 14-16 April.
• 2024: 鈥楧emocratic Institutions and the Regulation of Political Finance鈥�, ECPR General Conference, 天美传媒 College Dublin, 12-15 August (with Iain McMenamin).
• 2024: 鈥楶olitical Finance and Direct Democracy: Introducing the 鈥楻eferendum Campaign Finance Regulation Index鈥� (RefCFRI)鈥�, After (Neo-) Liberalism 鈥� Towards and Alternative Paradigm: 74th PSA Annual International Conference, 天美传媒 of Strathclyde, 25-27 March (with Toine Paulissen).
• 2023: 鈥楾owards an Integrated Theory of Political Finance Reform: Process Tracing the Diverse Cases of Canada, New Zealand, and Saint Lucia鈥�, Political Futures: 73rd PSA Annual International Conference, 天美传媒 of Liverpool, 3-5 April.
• 2022: 鈥楥ompetition, Organization or Ideology? Process Tracing the Development of Australian Political Finance Reforms (1980鈥�2020)鈥�, REPRESENT Mini-Workshop, 天美传媒 of Nottingham, 10 November.
• 2021: 鈥楨lectoral Competition or Party Ideology? Examining the Incentives Behind Political Finance Reform鈥�, Random Access Memories Conference. PSA ECN, 5-9 July. Available at:
• 2020: 鈥楶atterns of Political Finance: Explaining Political Finance reforms in liberal democracies鈥�, Research Methods Seminar Series. School of Government, 天美传媒 of Birmingham, 25 March.

Contact Details

E: [email protected]

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