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Overview
Dr Paul FawcettAssociate Professor of Governance

Contact

Address: Building 23, Level B Phone: + 61 (0) 2 6206 8919

Centre

Centre for Change Governance

Organisation

Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis at the University of Canberra

Research Interests

Paul's research interests include: governance; metagovernance; state-society relations; anti-politics; public service reform; democratic governance and political participation; politicians, administrators and publics; policy transfer; critical policy studies; public policy analysis; and political sociology.

Paul is currently an Associate Professor of Governance and Director of the Centre for Change Governance at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis. He joined the Institute in July 2013 having previously been a Senior Lecturer at The Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney.

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Bio/CV

Paul Fawcett is a political scientist whose main interests lie in various aspects of governance, public policymaking and political participation. He is particularly interested in the changing nature of state-society relationships and their effect on governance, executive politics, public service reform, political participation and the evolving way in which authority is both exercised and legitimated.

Paul has used these interests to examine the contemporary condition of political disaffection and disengagement that is present in many advanced liberal democracies, institutional and policy reform in central government, the branding of public policy and policy transfer. He also has related interests in policy network analysis, governance theory and how questions in the philosophy of the social sciences have been studied and applied in the fields of public policy and governance with a particular reference to post-positivist approaches such as interpretivism, constructivism and critical realism.

Paul is currently working on several solo and collaborative projects that address these and related themes. For example, Paul’s work with colleagues at the University of Southampton is examining why politicians have become demonised in public debate and how they can best reconnect with their publics in a ‘climate of distrust’. With colleagues at the University of Sheffield, he has been working on a project that examines the processes of depoliticisation that marginalise normative political debate and contribute towards a feeling of disengagement, disaffection and disinterest in politics. He is also working with colleagues from the Australian National University on an Australian Research Council funded project that is examining questions of governance and participation with specific reference to the Coal Seam Gas controversy in New South Wales.

Paul’s work has appeared in journals such as Administration & Society, Government and Opposition, Policy & Politics, The Australian Journal of Political Science, Policy Studies, Political Studies Review and The Australian Journal of Public Administration.

Paul is currently Director of the Centre for Change Governance at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis. He teaches into the Institute’s Master of Public Administration and is an Associate Editor for the journal, Policy & Politics.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

  • PhD in Political Science, University of Birmingham (supervised by Professor David Marsh).
  • M.A in Political Science (Research Methods), University of Birmingham. 
  • B.A in Political Science, University of Birmingham.

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

  • 2015-present. Director, Centre for Change Governance, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, The University of Canberra.

  • 2013-present. Associate Professor, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, The University of Canberra.

  • 2013. Senior Lecturer, Department of Government and International Relations, The University of Sydney.

  • 2009-2012. Lecturer, Department of Government and International Relations, The University of Sydney. 

VISITING FELLOWSHIPS

  • 2012. Visiting Fellow, ANZSOG Institute for Governance, The University of Canberra. 
  • 2012. Visiting Scholar, Department of Political Science, The University of Copenhagen.
  • 2008. Research Fellow, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University.
  • 2007-2008. Research Fellow, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University. 

AWARDS

  • 2007-2008. Australian Award, Endeavour Research Fellowship, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.
  • 2002-2007. Economic and Social Research Council Award. Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham.

AFFILIATIONS

  • Convenor, Policy Studies Research Group, Australian Political Studies Association.
  • Member, International Political Science Association’s Research Group on Public Administration.
  • Member, Political Studies Association (UK).
  • Member, Institute of Public Administration Australia.

EDITORSHIP

Publications

Selected publications are listed below, for full publication details see the following websites:

                   

 

Recent selected Publications

  • Fawcett, P. and  Wood, M. (forthcoming), "Depoliticisation, Metagovernance and Coal Seam Gas Regulation in New South Wales". In Colin Hay, Matthew Flinders, Paul Fawcett and Matthew Wood (eds.), Anti-Politics, Depoliticisation and Governance, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Fawcett, P. and Marsh, D. (forthcoming), "Rethinking Federalism: Network Governance, Multi-Level Governance and Australian Politics", In Katherine Daniell and Adrian Kay (eds.), Multi-Level Governance: Conceptual Challenges and Case Studies, Canberra: ANZSOG ANU e-Press.

  • Fawcett, P. (2016), "Critical Encounters with Decentred Theory: Tradition, Metagovernance, and Parrh?sia as Storytelling". In Nick Turnbull (ed.), Interpreting Governance, High Politics, and Public Policy, London: Routledge. [Read Here]

  • Fawcett, P. and Daugbjerg, C. (2015), "Metagovernance, Network Structure and Legitimacy: Developing a Heuristic for Comparative Governance Analysis", Administration & Society. [Read Here]

  • Fawcett, P. and Marsh, D. (2015), “Depoliticisation, governance and political participation”. In Flinders, M. and Wood, M., eds, Tracing the Political: Depoliticisation: Governance and the State, Bristol, Policy Press, pp. 47-70. [Read Here]

  • Fawcett, P. (2014), “Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them: Why Politicians Matter”, Democratic Theory, 1, 2, pp. 67-75. [Read Here]
  • Marsh, D., Hall, M. and Fawcett, P. (2014), “Two Cheers for Interpretivism: Deconstructing the British Political Tradition”, Australian Journal of Public Administration, 73, 3, pp. 240-348. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. & Marsh, D. (2014), “Depoliticization, Governance and Political Participation”, Policy & Politics, 42, 2, pp.171-188. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. & Marsh, D. (2012), “Branding Public Policy”. In Lees-Marshment, J. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Political Marketing, London: Routledge, pp. 329-41. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. & Daugbjerg, C. (2012), “Explaining Governance Outcomes: Epistemology, Network Governance and the Policy Network Analysis School”, Political Studies Review, 10, 2, pp. 195-207. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. & Marsh, D. (2012), “Policy Transfer and Policy Success: The Case of the Gateway Review Process (2001-2010)”, Government and Opposition, 47, 2, pp. 162-185. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. (2012), “Premiers and Cabinets”. In Clune, D and Smith, R. (eds.), From Carr to Keneally: Labor in Office in NSW, 1995-2011, Sydney: Allen & Unwin, pp. 72-84. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. Manwaring, R. & Marsh, D. (2011), “Network Governance and the 2020 Summit”, The Australian Journal of Political Science, 46, 4, pp. 651-67. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. & Marsh, D. (2011), “Branding and Franchising a Public Policy: The Case of the Gateway Review Process 2001-2010”, The Australian Journal of Public Administration, 70, 3, pp. 246-258. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. & Marsh, D. (2011), “Branding, Politics and Democracy”, Policy Studies, 32, 5, pp. 515-530. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P., Lewis, C. & Marsh, D. (2010), “Citizen-Centred Policy Making under Rudd: Network Governance in the Shadow of Hierarchy?”. In Aulich, C. and Evans, M. (eds.), The Rudd Government: Australian Commonwealth Administration 2007-2010, Canberra: ANU e-Press, pp. 143-160. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. & Gay, O. (2010), “United Kingdom”. In Eichbaum, C. and Shaw, R. (eds.), Partisan Appointees and Public Servants: An International Analysis of the Role of the Political Advisor, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 24-63. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. & Rhodes, R. A. W. (2007), “Central Government”. In Seldon, A. (ed.), Blair’s Britain 1997-2007, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 79-103. [Read Here]
  • Akhtar, P., Fawcett, P., Legrand, T., Marsh, D. & Taylor, C. (2005), “Women in the Political Science Profession”, European Political Science, 4, 3, pp. 242-255. [Read Here]

Reports

  • Fawcett, P. and Gay, O. (2005), “The Centre of Government: the Prime Minister’s Office, the Cabinet Office and Her Majesty’s Treasury”, House of Commons Library Research Paper, 5, 92. [Read Here]
  • Fawcett, P. and Gay, O. (2005), “Special Advisers”, House of Commons Library Standard Note.
Research Projects & Grants
  • Australian Research Council Discovery Project (DP150103615), ‘Realising Democracy Amid Communicative Plenty: A Deliberative Approach’ ($369,700AUD). Chief Investigators: John Dryzek (Canberra), Selen Ercan (Canberra), Carolyn Hendriks (ANU) and Michael Jensen (Canberra). [Read Here]
  • Flexible Research Funds Scheme, ‘Combatting Young People’s Cynicism towards Politicians’, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra ($5,000).
  • Australian Research Council Discovery Project (DP120104155), ‘Innovative Democracy? Changing Approaches to Citizen Engagement in Australia, the UK and Denmark’ ($286,000AUD). Chief Investigators: David Marsh (Canberra), Henrik Bang (Canberra), Paul Fawcett (Canberra) and Ariadne Vromen (Sydney).
  • Conference Paper to Journal Article Travel Support Scheme, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney ($4,760).
  • Institute of Public Administration Australia/University of Canberra Public Administration Research Trust Funding, ‘Comparing Subnational Core Executives: The Australian Perspective’ ($4,000AUD).
  • Faculty of Arts Research Support Scheme, ‘Network Governance: The 2020 Summit’ ($4,261AUD).
  • Australia Awards Endeavour Research Fellowship ($25,000AUD).

 

PhD Supervision

Areas of supervision

  • Governance
  • State-society relations
  • Political authority
  • Public service reform
  • Democratic governance and political participation
  • Politicians, administrators and publics
  • Policy transfer
  • Critical policy studies
  • Public policy analysis
  • Political sociology

Involvement in PHD supervisory panels

  • Thaneshwar Bhusal, ‘Public Sector Reforms and Democratisation of Local Governance in Developing Countries: A Case of Nepals Post 1990s Public Sector Reforms’.
  • Michael Chisnall, ‘A flawed lens? How do we conceptualise the use of technology in government?’.
  • Marion Carter, ‘Rethinking the (Im)possibility of Valuing the Immaterial: The Politics of Capital’.
  • Katie Singleton, ‘Money over Matter: Corporatism and The Media versus Social and Ecological Prosperity in the Hunter Valley Region’.
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