Research
The three main strands of my current research, pretty broadly defined, are populism, party organisation, and Australian politics. Some of the topics I look at criss-cross all three (youth wings being the prime example), while others are specific to just one. I used to think populism was the core of my research, but over time I realised that political parties were the central pillar holding everything together. And probably always had been.
Fundamentally, I’m interested in how parties (whether populist or mainstream) function internally and externally. Over my career, this has led me to examine questions ranging from the charismatic relationship between populist leaders and their parties to how populist parties cooperate internationally, and from how Indigenous people become candidates in Australian parties to which young people join mainstream party youth wings. While these may seem a disparate bunch of research questions, what links them is the same desire to look inside parties and catch a glimpse of how they work.
This is important because ultimately, whether you like them or not, parties are essential to democracy. We need to understand them far more than we currently do. Not least because, if some of them worked better, democracy would work better too.
Fundamentally, I’m interested in how parties (whether populist or mainstream) function internally and externally. Over my career, this has led me to examine questions ranging from the charismatic relationship between populist leaders and their parties to how populist parties cooperate internationally, and from how Indigenous people become candidates in Australian parties to which young people join mainstream party youth wings. While these may seem a disparate bunch of research questions, what links them is the same desire to look inside parties and catch a glimpse of how they work.
This is important because ultimately, whether you like them or not, parties are essential to democracy. We need to understand them far more than we currently do. Not least because, if some of them worked better, democracy would work better too.
