I’m a Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Manchester and a member of the Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT). I previously held a Hallsworth Research Fellowship and was a lecturer at King’s College London and Utrecht University.

My research is focused on democratic theory with a strong connection to the interdisciplinary tradition of politics, philosophy and economics (PPE). I’m particularly interested in contemporary challenges to democracy, both theoretical and practical. This has included the rise of democratic scepticism, democracy’s relationship to the market economy, issues of voter knowledge and competence, and problems of political polarization. My work has appeared in such places as American Political Science Review, Political Studies, Politics, Philosophy & Economics, Synthese, and Economics & Philosophy.

My first book ‘Intelligent Democracy: Answering the new democratic scepticism’ was recently published with Oxford University Press. Whether it is due to Donald Trump, Brexit, or the rise of populism, many now fear that democracies are destined to make bad decisions, and complaints about voter incompetence are increasingly common. Against this growing scepticism, I argue that we should value democracy, not only because it treats us all equally, but also because it can make good decisions and solve social problems. While it is common to focus on the faults of any one democratic body, I show how democracy’s intelligence is produced through the interaction of many institutions, from elections and deliberation to random sortition and the informal public sphere. The book therefore develops a unique epistemic justification of a democratic system and a comprehensive rejection of proposals which aim to empower the knowledgeable, exclude the ignorant, or expand the free market.

My most recent research has focused on issues of political polarization. While there is much concern about the increasingly partisan and conflictual nature of politics, polarization has received less attention from normative political theorists. My project aims to connect the latest empirical research to democratic principles, offering an in-depth analysis of the challenges different forms of polarization may present to democracy. Early work from this project includes a paper in the American Political Science Review focused on how polarization undermines democracy’s diversity. 

Research Focus

Democratic Theory: Deliberative democracy, epistemic justifications of democracy, systems approaches, sortition and lotteries, democracy’s critics.

Political Economy: Democracy and the market, the limits of markets, polycentricity, exit and voice, public goods.

Political Epistemology: Voter knowledge, political polarisation, misinformation and fake news, informational theories of markets.

I have significant teaching experience in political theory, having taught introductory and advanced courses at the University of Manchester, Utrecht University and King’s College London. I am also keenly interested in interdisciplinary education in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE), and I am collaborating on a new PPE textbook that will offer an integrated approach to interdisciplinary research.

I am currently active in supervising PhD scholars and would be very interested in taking on new PhD students. My department also has opportunities for funded places in its PhD programme. If you are interested in starting a PhD project within my broad area of expertise, please feel free to get in touch.