Dr Colin Provost

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Room: 3.06, 29/30 Tavistock Square
Tel: 020 7679 4903
Email: c.provost@ucl.ac.uk
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Biography

I am Associate Professor of Public Policy and Deputy Head of Department for Teaching Careers. I received my PhD in Political Science from Stony Brook University and prior to my time at UCL, I was a Prize Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University. My research focuses on how law, politics and administration affect the regulation of business. This research, which has been supported by the British Academy and the National Science Foundation, has been published in numerous political science and public policy journals and handbooks (see publications). I also write for public audiences in outlets such as The Conversation, The Globe Post and The Washington Post Monkey Cage, among others. I am a research collaborator with the UCL Global Governance Institute, a member of the UCL Centre for U.S. Politics, and a co-convener of ComplianceNet, an organisation of scholars devoted to studying the intersection of rules and human behaviour. From 2011 to 2013, I was Director of Environmental Governance for the UCL Environment Institute.

Research

My research focuses on regulatory governance and regulatory compliance, with a particular focus on state and federal regulation in the United States. Much of my previous research has examined how U.S. state attorneys general work together to enforce consumer protection and market competition laws, through the use of multi-state lawsuits. My current research analyses whether businesses comply with the requirements of such lawsuits, and whether their long-term regulatory compliance records improve as a result. A second strand of this compliance research examines how the revolving door from state attorney general offices to private law firms affects enforcement of state regulations. I am also working on a British Academy-funded project to examine the effects of corporate reputation on compliance with labour laws, such as the UK Modern Slavery Act. Finally, I have also published several articles and chapters on standard setting and enforcement in environmental regulations.

Publications

Journal articles

2022

• Provost, C., Dishman, E., and Nolette, P. (2022) ‘Monitoring Corporate Compliance through Cooperative Federalism: Trends in Multistate Settlements by State Attorneys General’, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 52(3), pp. 497–522.

2019

• Whitford, A. and Provost, C. (2019) ‘Government Promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from the EU Eco Management and Audit Scheme’, Review of Policy Research, 36(1), pp. 28–49.

2018

• Nolette, P. and Provost, C. (2018) ‘Change and Continuity in the Role of State Attorneys General in the Obama and Trump Administrations’, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 48(3), pp. 469–494.
• Provost, C. and Gerber, B. J. (2018) ‘Political Control and Policy-Making Uncertainty in Executive Orders: the Implementation of Environmental Justice Policy’, Journal of Public Policy, 39(2), pp. 329–358.

2016

• Provost, C. and Esteve, M. (2016) ‘Collective Action Problems in the Contracting of Public Services: Evidence from the UK’s Ministry of Justice’, Journal of Strategic Contracting and Negotiation, 2(3).
• Capelos, T., Provost, C., Parouti, M., Barnett, J., Chenoweth, J., Chris Fife-Schaw and Kelay, T. (2016) ‘Ingredients of Institutional Reputations and Citizens’ Compliance with Agency Recommendations’, Regulation and Governance, 10(4), pp. 350–367.
• Gleason, S. A. and Provost, C. (2016) ‘Representing the States Before the Supreme Court: State Amicus Brief Participation, the Policy-Making Environment and the Fourth Amendment’, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 46(2), pp. 248–273.

2015

• Provost, C. (2015) ‘Competition and Coordination in Bank Regulation: the Financial Crisis of 2007-09’, International Journal of Public Administration, 39(7), pp. 540–551.

2014

• Provost, C. (2014) ‘Antitrust Law and Distributive Politics in the American States’, Law and Policy, 36(4), pp. 408–431.

2012

• Gieve, J. and Provost, C. (2012) ‘Ideas and Coordination in Policy Making: the Financial Crisis of 2007-2009’, Governance, 25(1), pp. 61–77.

2011

• Provost, C. (2011) ‘When to Befriend the Court? Examining State Amici Curiae Participation before the U.S. Supreme Court’, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 11(1), pp. 4–27.

2010

• Provost, C. (2010) ‘An Integrated Model of State Attorney General Behavior in Multi-State Litigation’, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 10(1), pp. 1–24.
• Provost, C. (2010) ‘When is AG Short for Aspiring Governor? Ambition and Policy Making Dynamics in the Office of State Attorney General’, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 40(4), pp. 597–616.

2006

• Provost, C. (2006) ‘The Politics of Consumer Protection: Explaining State Attorney General Participation in Multi-State Lawsuits’, Political Research Quarterly, 59(4), pp. 609–618.

2003

• Provost, C. (2003) ‘State Attorneys General, Entrepreneurship, and Consumer Protection in the New Federalism’, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 33(2), pp. 37–53.

2002

• Huddy, L., Feldman, S., Capelos, T. and Provost, C. (2002) ‘The Consequences of Terrorism: Disentangling the Effects of Personal and National Threat’, Political Psychology, 23(3), pp. 485–511.

Policy reports

• Kumar, S. and Provost, C. (2022) Ableism and the Labour Market. London: Association of Disabled Professionals.

Edited books

• Provost, C. and Teske, P. (eds.) (2009) President George W. Bush’s Influence Over Bureaucracy and Policy: Extraordinary Times, Extraordinary Powers. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Book chapters

2020

• Coen, D. and Provost, C. (2020). ‘Revolving Doors’, in P. Harris, A. Bitonti, C. Fleisher and A. Skorkjær Binderkrantz (eds.) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Interest Groups, Lobbying and Public Affairs. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Provost, C. and Gerber, B. (2020) ‘The Contested Politics of Environmental Rulemaking’, in D. Konisky (ed.) Handbook of U. S. Environmental Policy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. 

2019

• Provost, C. (2019) ‘Multi-Level Environmental Governance in the European Union and United States’, in B. Gerber (ed.) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science, pp. 1–24. New York, U.S.: Oxford University Press.

2014

• Teske, P. and Provost, C. (2014) ‘State Regulatory Policy’, in D. Haider-Markel (ed.) Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 802–818.

2012

• Provost, C. (2012) ‘Governance and Voluntary Regulation’, in D. Levi-Faur (ed.) Oxford Handbook of Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2011

• Provost, C. (2011) ‘Bureaucracy’, in B. Badie, D. Berg-Schlosser and L. Morlino, L. (eds.) International Encyclopedia of Political Science. Sage Publications.
• Provost, C. (2011) ‘Deregulation’, in B. Badie, D. Berg-Schlosser and L. Morlino, L. (eds.) International Encyclopedia of Political Science. Sage Publications.

2009

• Provost, C. and Teske, P. (2009) ‘Extraordinary Powers, Extraordinary Policies?’, in C. Provost and P. Teske (eds.) President George W. Bush’s Influence over Bureaucracy and Policy. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 1–15.
• Provost, C., Gerber, B. J. and Pickup, M. (2009) ‘Flying Under the Radar? Political Control and Bureaucratic Resistance in the Bush Environmental Protection Agency’, in C. Provost and P. Teske (eds.) President George W. Bush’s Influence over Bureaucracy and Policy. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 169–186.
• Provost, C. (2009) ‘Evaluating Policy in the Bush II Presidency’, in C. Provost and P. Teske (eds.) President George W. Bush’s Influence over Bureaucracy and Policy. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 221–232.

2006

• Provost, C. (2006) ‘Regulatory Negotiations’, in M. Bevir (ed.) Encyclopedia of Governance. Sage Publications.

2004

• Graves, S. and Provost, C. (2004) ‘Legal Actors in the Regulatory Process’, in P. Teske (ed.) Regulation in the States. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, pp. 218–235.

Blog posts & media pieces

• Provost, C. and Hilliard, N. (2020) ‘The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election: Nine Lessons’, UCL Constitution Unit Blog.
• Provost, C. (2020) ‘With Biden’s Election, Johnson’s Irish Border Gambles Look Increasingly Risky’, LSE Brexit 2020.
• Provost, C. (2020) ‘Democrats Should Run – and Run Hard – on Health Care’, The Globe Post.
• Provost, C. and Nolette, P. (2019) ‘The Opioid Litigation Has More than 2,000 Plaintiffs: Here’s What that Means Behind the Scenes’, Washington Post: Monkey Cage.    
• Provost, C. (2018) ‘Are American States Still Laboratories of Democracy?’, The Globe Post.
• Provost, C. (2018) ‘U.S. Midterms: What They Mean for Healthcare and the 2020 Presidential Race’, The Conversation.
• Provost, C. and Gerber, B. J. (2018) ‘In the U.S., Black, Brown and Poor People Suffer the Most from Environmental Contamination’, Washington Post: Monkey Cage.  
• Provost, C. (2016) ‘The Trump Administration Is Likely to Run into Major Obstacles in Policy Implementation’, UCL Constitution Unit Blog.
• Provost, C. (2016) ‘Donald Trump and Climate Change: What Can He Actually Accomplish?’, UCL Global Governance Institute Blog.

Teaching

I teach on ‘Public Management: Theories and Innovations’ (PUBL0008), ‘Law and Regulation’ (PUBL0031) and ‘Regulating Big Business’ (POLS0089). I welcome applications from prospective PhD students that focus on regulation of business behaviour or public management.