Teaching & PhD Supervision

My teaching has cut across the areas of comparative politics, primarily, European politics, public administration, public policy, international development and research design andmethods in political science.

Graduate Teaching

  • Corruption: Diagnosis and Treatment. Nottingham. 
  • Governance, Institutions and International Development, Nottingham.
  • Professional Development Module for PhD Students, Nottingham.
  • Postgraduate Research Colloquium, Nottingham.
  • Designing Political Enquiry. Nottingham.
  • Public Administration in Developing and Transition Countries. Nottingham.
  • Introduction to Comparative Public Administration. LSE.
  • Comparative Public Policy Change. LSE.
  • Politics in West and Central Europe. Birkbeck College

Undergraduate Teaching

  • Crisis, Death or Survival of Democracy. Nottingham.
  • Transformation of European Politics. Nottingham
  • Democratic Backsliding in East and Central Europe. Nottingham.
  • Introduction to Comparative Politics. Nottingham.
  • Politics of East and Central Europe. Nottingham.
  • Crisis and Controversies in European Politics. Nottingham.
  • Governing the Modern State: Theories and Innovation. Nottingham.
  • Designing Political Research. Nottingham.
  • Politics and Society in Europe. Nottingham.
  • Power and the State.  Nottingham.
  • Power and Leadership: Beyond Institutional Democracy. Nottingham.
  • Introduction to European Politics. Nottingham.
  • Executive Government and its Modernisation in Selected OECD Countries. LSE.
  • Politics of Economic Policy. LSE.

PhD Supervision 

I have supervised PhD students at the University of Nottingham since 2004 on topics across comparative politics, public administration, public policy and international development. My supervisees have worked on themes such as the transformation of bureaucratic elites in post-communist Europe, Europeanisation and institutional reform, civil service management and corruption in the Western Balkans, foreign policy change, electoral reform, and democratic socialisation.

In recent years, my supervision has expanded to cover projects on public administration and governance in the Global South, including South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Current and recent students have examined issues such as citizen trust in public institutions in South Asia, ethics and integrity management, de-radicalisation programmes in the Global South, and party patronage in post-conflict settings.

I have supervised and externally co-supervised PhD students funded by the ESRC, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, and other international programmes. I particularly welcome applications from prospective PhD students interested in:

  • Comparative politics and governance in Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Western Balkans, South Asia and the Middle East;
  • Public administration, public management and civil service reform;
  • Ethics, integrity and anti-corruption in the public sector;
  • Politicisation, patronage and elite careers; and
  • Survey, experimental and mixed-methods research on public servants and institutions.

If you are considering doctoral research in these areas, please feel free to contact me to discuss potential supervision.

Current and former PhD students

  • Janine Clark, Milosevic: Case Study of a Criminal Leader. Completed 2006
  • Helena Ekelund, European Community Agencies. Completed 2010.
  • Burak Cop, Electoral Reform in Turkey. Completed 2011.
  • Ayhan Bakar. Europeanisation of Justice and Home Affairs Policies in Turkey. Completed 2011.
  • Rahime Suleymanoglu, The Europeanisation of Turkish Foreign Policy. Completed 2012.
  • Minoru Nakano. EU Integration and Discourses of Sovereignty in Britain. Completed 2013.
  • Zeynep Özkurt. EU Integration and Democratisation in Turkey. Completed 2013.
  • Marija Zurnic. Discourses of Corruption in Serbia. Completed 2014.
  • Kim Mikkelsen. Public Administration Reform and Corruption in East Central Europe. Visiting PhD Student from Aarhus University, 2012/2013. Completed 2015.
  • Abeeda Qreshi. Multiculturalism and Public Policy in Britain. Completed 2016.
  • Katrina Kelly. Environmental Policy in the EU and the USA. Completed 2017.
  • Fanni Toth. EU Impact on Democratic Socialisation in Post-Communist Europe. Completed 2018.
  • Alessandra de Angelis. Europeanisation of Defence Equipment Market. Completed 2019.
  • Nora Leach. Europeanisation of Bureaucratic Elites in Post-Communist Europe. ESRC 1+3. Expected 2025.  
  • Rifat Mahmud. Citizen Trust in Public Institutions in South Asia. Commonwealth Scholarship. Expected 2027.  
  • Rebecca Amisu. Conditions for Successful De-Radicalisation Programmes in the Global South. Expected 2025 (MRes). 
  • Ari Mamshae. Party Patronage in Post-Conflict Iraq. University of Oslo. Formally appointed external PhD supervisor. Expected 2026..