Seminars
Distinguished external speakers that form a unique part of our teaching programme
Venue
Please see each seminar for time and venue.
2012/2013
Term 3 Policy and Practice Seminars
| Date | Speaker | Institution | Subject |
|
11 April |
Alejandro Estivill |
Mexican Ambassador to UK & NI |
Democratisation in Mexico |
|
24 April |
Lord O'Donnell |
Visiting Professor, UCL |
Inaugural Lecture: Building a Better Government: the Political and Constitutional Reforms Necessary to Achieve This 6pm in Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre Please register at Eventbrite |
|
13 May |
Laurence Cockcroft & Susan Rose-Ackerman |
Transparency International & Yale Law School |
Global Corruption 5pm in Gavin de Beer Lecture Theatre, Anatomy Please register at Eventbrite |
|
29 May |
Sir John Gieve |
Visiting Professor, UCL |
Inaugural Lecture 6pm in Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre |
|
13 June |
Owen Barder |
Director of the Centre for Global Development Europe |
International Aid Transparency 5pm in Archaeology Lecture Theatre |
| TBC |
David Babbs & Anthony Zacharzewski |
Executive Director, 38 Degrees & Chief Executive, DemSoc |
Online activism |
Term 2
Venue
Except where stated, all seminars are held at 5.00pm in Archaeology Lecture Theatre G6, Gordon House, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY on Thursdays in terms one and two (excluding reading weeks).
| Date | Speaker | Institution | Subject |
|
17 Jan |
Tony Wright | UCL |
Politics and Politicians |
|
24 Jan |
Alan Ware |
- |
Education as Positional Competition: First thoughts on Implications for Public Policy Objectives |
|
31 Jan |
Hilary Jackson, David Laughrin and Peter Waller |
Former Senior Officials from Whitehall |
Working in Whitehall: the Good and the Bad |
|
7 Feb |
Andrew Lebrecht |
Former UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU |
EU Climate Policy 2008-12: An Insider's View |
|
21 Feb |
Vernon Bogdanor |
Kings College London |
What Place for the Referendum in the UK? |
|
28 Feb |
Martino Maggetti |
University of Zurich |
Public Administration in Practice: Towards a Framework to Rethink Politico-Administrative Relations |
| 7 Mar |
Jack Straw |
Visiting Professor UCL |
Dilemmas of a Foreign Secretary |
|
14 Mar |
Walter Mattli |
St. John's College, Oxford |
The New Global Rulers: the Privatization of Regulation in the World Economy |
|
21 Mar |
Gary LaFree |
University of Maryland |
Black Swans and Burstiness:Countering Myths about Terrorism |
Term 1
| Date | Speaker | Institution | Subject |
| 18 Oct | Hussein Kassim | University of East Anglia |
“Inside the European Commission: Towards a new (and very different) understanding” |
|
25 Oct |
Rod Abouharb |
UCL |
“International Regimes and Human Rights” |
|
31 Oct |
Panel Discussion: Jennifer Hudson, Iwan Morgan, Colin Provost, Albert Weale. |
UCL Political Science and Institute of the Americas |
Public Policy and the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election. 4.30pm in Roberts 106 |
|
1 Nov (6pm Start) |
Lord (Gus) O’Donnell |
Former Cabinet Secretary |
“In Defence of Bureaucracy” |
| 15 Nov |
Daniel Nexon |
Georgetown University | “Imperial Matters: Empire and the Future of World Order” |
|
16 Nov |
Oxana Alistratova & Virginia Mantouvalou |
Director, NGO Interaction and Faculty of Laws, UCL |
"Working for Human Rights and Combating Human Trafficking in Transnistria" 2.00pm in Ramsay Lecture Theatre, Christopher Ingold Building |
|
22 Nov |
Michael Jacobs & Duncan Brack |
- |
“Special Advisors” |
|
29 Nov |
Panel Discussion: Sir John Gieve, Lord Roger Liddle, David Babbs, and Colin Provost |
- |
“Eurozone Crisis and the Democratic Deficit”. Register 5.45pm in Medical Sciences 131 A V Hill LT, Medical Sciences & Anatomy Building |
|
6 Dec |
Vijay Rangarajan |
Director, Multilateral Policy of the Foreign Office |
“International Norms: a Powerful Public Policy?" |
2011/2012
Term 2
| Date |
Speaker
|
Institution | Subject |
|
19 Jan |
Christopher Olivola |
University of Warwick | Elected in 100 Milliseconds: Appearance-Based Trait Inferences and Voting |
|
26 Jan |
David Samuels |
University of Minnesota | Inequality and Democratization: Fear of the Poor... or Fear of the State? |
|
2 Feb |
Dov Waxman |
Baruch College, CUNY | Israel’s Other Palestinian Problem: The Palestinian Minority and the Future of the Jewish State |
|
9 Feb |
Eric Neumayer |
LSE |
Do Governments Mean Business When They Derogate? Human Rights Violations During Notified States of Emergency |
|
23 Feb |
Anke Hoffler |
University of Oxford |
Income and Democracy: Lipset's Law Inverted (written with Ghada Fayad and Robert Bates) |
|
1 Mar |
Laleh Khalili |
SOAS | The Uses of Happiness in Counterinsurgencies |
|
8 Mar |
Sherrill Stroschein |
UCL | Ethnic Struggle, Coexistence, and Democratization |
|
15 Mar |
Chandra Sriram |
SOAS | In the Shadow of the International Criminal Court: Kenya and the Politics of State Cooperation |
|
22 Mar |
Michael Lister |
Oxford Brookes University | Disconnected Citizenship? The Impacts of Anti-Terrorism Policy on Citizenship in the UK |
Term 1
| Date | Speaker |
Institution |
Subject |
| 13 Oct | David Cingranelli | Binghamton University | Why Measure Human Rights? |
| 20 Oct | Brian J Gerber | University of Colorado at Denver | The Implementation of Homeland Security Policy: Why Do Some Local Governments Perform Better Than Others? |
| 27 Oct | Erica Chenoweth | Wesleyan University | Why Civil Resistance Works |
| 3 Nov | Thomas Hegghammer | Norwegian Defence Research Establishment | Terrorists and Foreign Fighters: Disaggregating Jihadism in the West |
| 17 Nov | Kurt Mills | University of Glasgow | International Responsibilities in Conflict: Protection, Prosecution, and Palliation |
| 24 Nov | Robert Hazell and Ben Young |
Constitution Unit, UCL |
The Inside Story: How the Coalition Government Works |
| 1 Dec |
Omar McDoom |
London School of Economics and Political Science | Who Kills? Micro-Geography, Social Networks and Individual Participation in Rwanda's Genocide |
| 8 Dec | CANCELLED | CANCELLLED | CANCELLED |
2010/2011
Term 2
| Date |
Speaker |
Position | Subject |
| 20 Jan | Umut Aydin | Bogazici University, Istanbul | The International Diffusion of Competition Laws |
| 27 Jan | Todd Landman | University of Essex | The Comparative Politics of Human Rights |
| 2 Feb 4-6 pm* | Pepper Culpepper | European University Institute | Quiet Politics and Business Power |
| 10 Feb | Zsuzsa Csergo | Queen’s University, Canada | Historical Legacy and Minority Integration in Central Europe |
| 24 Feb | Kristin Bakke | UCL | Acceptance and Resistance to Foreign Ideas: Transnational Insurgents’ Impact on the Chechen Separatists |
| 3 Mar | David Karp | University of Glasgow | Human Rights Responsibility and Transnational Corporations: Beyond Capacity and Publicness |
| 10 Mar | Tony Bertelli | University of Southern California | Party Policy Investment: Analyzing Risk and Return in Westminster Policy Agendas, 1971-2007 |
| 17 Mar | Albert Weale | UCL | Talking Social Contracts |
| 24 Mar | Jasmine Burnley | Policy Advisor, Oxfam Great Britain | Title TBC |
Term 1
|
Date |
Speaker |
Position |
Subject |
| 14 Oct | Gulali Ismail, George Ngoha & Flori Kazinguf | Aware Girls (Pakistan), Collaborative for Peace (Sudan) & Chirezi Foundation (DRC) | “Conflict Resolution and Local Peacebuilding: Experience from the Ground” |
| 21 Oct | M. Rodwan Abouharb | Lecturer in International Relations, University College London | “The Impact of Civil and Interstate War on Infant Mortality Rates, 1817-2006” |
| 28 Oct | Simon Hix & Michael Shackleton | Professor of European and Comparative Politics, LSE & Head of the European Parliament Office, London | “The European Parliament Post-Lisbon” |
| 4 Nov | André Bächtiger | Professor of Political Science, University of Lucerne | “On Perfecting the Deliberative Process: Agonistic Inquiry as a Key Deliberative Technique” |
| 18 Nov | Alexander T. Knapp |
Visiting Professor, American University, School of International Service & Independent Consultant, International Relations |
“Bezerkistan: Complexity, Conflict and Reconstruction” |
| 25 Nov | Tony Wright |
Professor of Government and Public Policy, University College London & Former Member of the British Parliament |
“Doing Politics and Thinking about Politics” |
| 2 Dec | Charles Pattie | Professor of Geography, University of Sheffield | “The Sound and the Fury? Leaders' TV Debates at the 2010 General Election” |
| 9 Dec | Tom Burke | Founding Director E3G (Third Generation Environmentalism), London | “Policy, Politics and Climate Change” |
| 16 Dec | Mark Bevir | Professor of Political Science, University of California Berkeley |
“The Making of Governance: Social Science and the Construction of Public Policy” |
2009/2010
Term 2
| Date | Speaker | Position | Subject |
|
14 Jan |
Furio Cerutti |
Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Florence |
“Global Challenges and a Politics of the Future” |
|
21 Jan |
James Tierney & Matthew Bennett |
Lecturer in Law, Columbia University and US National Association of Attorneys General & Director of Economics, UK Office of Fair Trading |
“Competition Law and the Financial Crisis” |
|
28 Jan |
Phil Cowley |
Professor of British Politics, University of Nottingham |
“Why Not Ask the Audience? The Public and Descriptive Representation" |
|
1 Feb |
Chris Wlezien |
Professor of Political Science, Temple University |
“Degrees of Democracy: Politics, Public Opinion and Policy” |
|
4 Feb |
Berthold Rittberger |
Professor of Political Science and Contemporary History, University of Mannheim |
“Paths to Independence: Explaining the Institutional Design of EU Agencies” |
|
11 Feb |
Heather Marquette |
Senior Lecturer in Governance, University of Birmingham |
“'Finding God' in the Fight Against Corruption” |
|
25 Feb |
Devi Sridhar |
Research Associate, All Souls College, University of Oxford |
“Who Calls the Shots in Public Health Policy?” |
|
4 Mar |
Basak Cali |
Lecturer in Human Rights, University College London |
“Why Do Democracies Comply with Human Rights Judgments? |
|
11 Mar |
David Hudson |
Lecturer in International Relations and International Political Economy, University College London |
"What Would Keynes Do? The Case for a Global Reserve Currency" |
| 18 Mar | Andy Whitford | Professor of Public Administration and Policy, University of Georgia | “The Efficiency and Inefficiency of Democracy in Making Governments Effective: Cross-National Evidence” |
|
25 Mar |
Lee Seymour |
Assistant Professor in Political Science, University of Leiden |
Pathways to Secession: Legitimacy and the Diplomacy of International Recognition |
Term 1
| Date | Speaker | Position | Subject |
|
15 Oct |
Professor Cécile Laborde | Professor of Political Theor |
“Should Liberals Be Committed to the Secular State?” |
|
22 Oct |
Dr M. Rodwan Abouharb | Lecturer in International Relations | "International Regimes and Government Respect for Economic and Social Human Rights" |
|
29 Oct |
Matthew Findlay |
E3G, Programme Leader, Global Climate Deal |
"Scenarios for the Copenhagen Climate Summit: Breakthrough, Collapse, or Greenwash?" Note: This will be held at Room G10 in Chandler House. |
|
5 Nov |
Dr Raymond Lang |
Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre (UCL) |
"Challenges to Implementing a Rights-Based Approach to Public Policy: Examples from International Disability Policy and Practice" |
|
19 Nov |
John Kittmer |
Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State, DEFRA |
“In the Thick of Yes, Minister: Supporting Ministers through the New Constitution” |
|
26 Nov |
Andrew Chadwick |
Professor of Political Science, Royal Hollowa |
“Theorising the Internet and Democracy Now” |
|
3 Dec |
Aileen Kavanagh & Richard Bellamy |
Reader, University of Oxford & Professor of Political Science, University College London |
“The Legitimacy of Constitutional Rights-Based Judicial Review: For and Against” |
|
10 Dec |
Minister Osvaldo Marsico and Meghna Abraham |
Chargé d´Affairs of the Argentine Republic and Amnesty International |
“Nominal Commitment to Human Rights: A Global Survey” Location: UCL Pearson Lecture Theatre (North East Entrance) View map. |
|
17 Dec |
Caroline Kennedy-Pipe |
Professor of International Relations and War Studies, University of Warwick |
The Shape of War |
2008/2009
|
Date |
Speaker |
Position |
Subject |
|
26 Mar |
Jennifer van Heerde | Lecturer in Research Methods and MPhil/PhD Programme Director | “Newspaper Reporting and Public Perceptions of UK Party Finance: Knows Little, Learns Less?” |
|
19 Mar |
Petr Kopecky | Lecturer in Politics, Leiden University | “Party Patronage in Contemporary Democracies” |
| 12 Mar | Eric Neumayer | Professor of Environment & Development, London School of Economics | “Strategic Terrorism: International Alliances and Foreign Military Support” |
|
5 Mar |
Tereza Capelos | Lecturer in Politics, University of Surrey | “Political Personality and Party Bonds as Determinants of Blame Attributions” |
| 26 Feb | Andrew Russell | Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Manchester | “The Verified Turnout of Attainees” |
| 12 Feb | Christoph Meyer | Senior Lecturer in EU Defence and Security Policy, King’s College London | “Turning Early Warnings into Preventive Action” |
| 5 Feb | Heather Marquette | Lecturer in Governance, University of Birmingham | “A Critical Analysis of Research on Religion and Corruption” |
|
29 Jan |
Alessandro Ferrara | University of Rome | “Politics at its Best: Reasons that Move the Imagination” |
|
22 Jan |
Laure-Helene Piron | Justice Advisor, Department for International Development | “Transitional Justice and the Rule of Law: a View from the Field” |
|
14 Jan |
Markus Haverland | Associate Professor of Political Science, Erasmus University Rotterdam | “Is Knowledge (Still) Power? Small Leader States in EU Chemical Policymaking” |
| 4 Dec | Wyn Bowen | Professor of Non-Proliferation & International Security, King’s College London | 'Preventing Nuclear and Radiological Terrorism: Is there a role for deterrence' |
| 27 Nov | Colin Hay | Professor of Political Analysis, University of Sheffield | “Why We Hate Politics” |
| 20 Nov | Jan Erk | Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Leiden University | “European Culture Wars: Combining International and Domestic Levels of Analysis in the Study of Conflict and Compromise” |
| 13 Nov | A Journalist from The Economist | The Economist | “Reporting on Crisis Situations” |
| 30 Oct | Richard Ned Lebow | James O. Freedman Presidential Professor of Government, Dartmouth College | Forbidden Fruit: Counterfactuals in International Relations |
| 23 Oct | Todd Landman | Reader in Politics, University of Essex | 'Measuring Human Rights' |
| 16 Oct | Michele Mastroeni | Research Fellow, Kingston Business School | “Acute Institutional Change: Strategic Industry and Political Agents” |
| 9 Oct | Justine Lacroix | Associate Professor of Politics, Université Libre de Bruxelles | “A Liberal Defence of Compulsory Voting” |
Venue
Colloquium in Legal and Social Philosophy held in UCL Faculty of Laws, Bentham House, Ensleigh Gardens between 4pm and 7pm.
2012/2013
Term 2
| Date | Speaker | Institution | Subject |
|
23 Jan |
Charles Fried |
Harvard University |
The ambitions of 'Contract of Promise': Thirty years on |
|
30 Jan |
Miranda Fricker |
Sheffield University |
What's the point of blame? |
|
6 Feb |
Jeremy Waldron |
Oxford University / NYU |
Is Dignity the foundation of Human Rights? |
|
27 Feb |
George Letsas |
UCL |
Proportionality: Diagnostic, not Constitutive |
|
13 Mar |
T. M. Scanlon |
Harvard University |
Giving Desert its Due |
|
26 April |
Joseph Raz |
Columbia |
The normativity of Law |
Term 1
All seminars in term one are held at 5.00pm in The Council Room, School of Public Policy, 29/30 Tavistock Square.
| Date | Speaker | Institution | Subject |
| 0ct 17 | Corey Brettschneider |
Brown University |
Value Democracy as the Basis for Viewpoint Neutrality: A Theory of Free Speech and Its Implications for the State Speech and Limited Public Forum Doctrines (Doc) |
| Oct 31 | Victor Tadros | Warwick |
What Might have Been (Docx) |
| Nov 14 | Jeremy Jennings | Queen Mary |
Liberalism and the Morality of Commercial Society (Doc) |
|
Nov 21 * (Roberts 508) |
Thomas Pogge |
Yale |
Are We Violating the Human Rights of the World’s Poor? (PDF) |
| Nov 28 | Sarah Fine | Kings, London |
Immigration and Discrimination (PDF) |
| Dec 5 | Anne Phillips | LSE |
Revisiting Humanism (Docx) |
2011/2012
Term 1
| Date |
Speaker |
Institution |
Subject |
|
19 Oct |
Duncan Kelly |
Cambridge |
The Propriety of Liberty (PDF) |
|
26 Oct |
David Owen |
Southampton |
Transnational Citizenship and the Democratic State: Modes of Membership and Voting Rights (Doc) |
|
2 Nov |
Les Green |
Balliol College, Oxford |
Democratic Constitutionalism: The Basics (PDF) |
|
16 Nov |
Jonathan Seglow |
Royal Holloway College, London |
Family, Friends and Compatriots: on associative duties (Doc) |
|
7 Dec |
Avia Pasternak |
Essex | Intentional vs. unintentional benefits from Injustice (Docx) |
|
14 Dec |
Katrin Flikschuh |
LSE | Personal Autonomy and Public Authority |
2010/2011
Term 2
| Date | Speaker | Organisation | Subject |
|
19 Jan |
Prof Sebastiano Maffetone | LUISS University, Rome) |
'Rawls on Justice and Political Liberalism' |
Term 1
|
Date |
Speaker |
Organisation |
Subject |
|
6 Oct |
Dr Lea Ypi |
Nuffield College, Oxford |
Activist Political Theory and Avant-Garde Agency (Word) |
|
20 Oct |
David Howarth |
University of Essex |
Capitalism, Christianity and Critical Explanation: Evaluating Connolly's Critical Political Theory (PDF) |
|
3 Nov |
Dr Ian O'Flynn |
Newcastle University |
'Internal Conflict and Principled Compromise' (PDF) |
|
17 Nov |
Professor Nicola Lacey |
All Souls, Oxford |
The Resurgence of Character: Responsibility in the Context of Criminalisation (Doc) |
|
1 Dec |
Dr Alan Cromartie |
Reading University |
The Presuppositions of To be held at Gordon Street (25) D103. View map (opens in new tab/window). |
|
15 Dec |
Professor Mark Bevir |
Berkeley |
Democratic Governance Chapter 2 & Chapter 11 |
2009/2010
|
Date |
Speaker |
Organisation |
Subject |
| 28 Oct | David Miller | University of Oxford |
‘Territorial Rights: Concept and Justification’ (Word) |
| 4 Nov | Michael Freeden | University of Oxford |
‘The Arrogance of Politics: Political Thinking as Boundary-Setting' (PDF) |
| 25 Nov | Zofia Stemplowska | University of Reading |
‘On the Real World Duties Imposed on Us by Human Rights' (PDF) |
| 2 Dec | John Horton | Keele University |
'Towards a Political Theory of Modus Vivendi' (PDF) |
|
9 Dec |
Jonathan Quong |
University of Manchester |
‘The Structure of Public Reason’ (PDF) |
2007/2008
|
10 Dec |
Sue Mendus |
University of York |
Religious Terrorism and Political Liberalism |
|
3 Dec |
Annabelle Lever |
London School of Economics |
Compulsory Voting |
|
26 Nov |
Stuart White |
Jesus College, Oxford |
Religion and Employment Discrimination |
|
12 Nov |
Melissa Lane |
King’s College, Cambridge |
Motivation and the moral division of labour |
|
29 Oct |
Robert Audi |
University of Notre Dame |
Kantian Intuitionism as a Framework for the Justification of Normative Judgments in Ethics and Politics |
|
8 Oct |
Chandran Kukathas |
London School of Economics |
The Concept of Security |
2006/2007
|
5 Dec |
Dr Aletta Norval |
Government Department, University of Essex |
'Making claims: the demands of democratic subjectivity' |
|
28 Nov |
Professor Alex Callinicos |
European Studies, Kings College, University of London |
Two cheers for enlightenment universalism: or, why it’s hard to be an aristotelian revolutiona |
|
21 Nov |
Dr Amanda Perreau-Saussine |
Newnham College, Cambridge |
'Kant, the law and the law of nations' |
|
14 Nov |
Dr Adam Swift |
Balliol College, University of Oxford |
'The Value of Philosophy in Non-ideal Circumstances' |
|
17 Oct |
Professor David Archard |
Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Lancaster |
Why Exactly is the Family a Problem for Justice? |

