Professor Neil J. Mitchell

Professor of International Relations
Room: 3.02, 29/30 Tavistock Sq.
Tel: 020 7679 4726 (x24726)
Email: n.mitchell@ucl.ac.uk

Biography

Neil Mitchell joined UCL as Professor of International Relations in 2011 and was Acting Head of Department in 2014-2015. From 2005-2011 he held a Sixth Century Chair at the University of Aberdeen. Prior to returning to the UK, he taught at the University of New Mexico from 1986-2005 (department chair from 1993-2001) and before that at Iowa State University and Grinnell College. He was an undergraduate at Nottingham University and completed his masters and PhD at Indiana University, USA.

Research

His earlier work combined interests in business political activity and social responsibility and the measurement and analysis of human rights violations. He currently works on conflict and human rights violations, issues of leadership and accountability, and the role of non-state actors.  With Sabine Carey at the University of Mannheim, he has built a global database on pro-government militias and with Kristin Bakke and Hannah Smidt at the University of Zurich, a global database on state restrictions of civil society.

Publications

Books:

• The Generous Corporation: A Political Analysis of Economic PowerYale University Press, 1989. Japanese translation June 2003, Tokyo: Dohyukan Publishing Co.Ltd
• The Conspicuous Corporation: Business, Public Policy, and Representative Democracy The University of Michigan Press, 1997.
• Agents of Atrocity: Leaders, Followers, and the Violation of Human Rights in Civil War, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Paperback 2009. 
• Democracy’s Blameless Leaders: From Dresden to Abu Ghraib, How Leaders Evade Accountability for Abuse, Atrocity and Killing, New York University Press 2012.

Selected journal articles:

• ‘Liberalism, Human Rights, and Human Dignity’American Political Science Review, 81, (September, 1987), pp. 921-924.
• ‘Changing Pressure Group Politics: The Case of the Trade Union Congress, 1976-1984’ British Journal of Political Science, 17, (October, 1987), pp. 509-517.
• ‘Is American Aid Really Linked to Latin American Human Rights?’James McCormick and Neil J. Mitchell American Journal of Political Science, 32, (February 1988) pp. 231-239.
• "Economic and Political Explanations of Human Rights Violations" Neil J. Mitchell and James McCormick World Politics, 40, (July 1988) pp. 476-498. Abridged version, reprinted in Frank Newman and David Weissbrodt, eds., International Human Rights: Law, Policy, and Process, 2nd edition (Cincinnati, OH:  Anderson Publishing Co., 1996, pp. 705-712). Reprinted in Todd Landman ed.  Human Rights (Sage Publications: 2009)
• ‘The Decentralization of Business Representation in Britain’The Journal of Politics, 52, (May 1990) pp. 622-637.
• ‘Business and Political Finance in the United Kingdom,’ Neil J. Mitchell and John G. Bretting Comparative Political Studies, 26, (July, 1993) pp. 229-245.
• Theoretical and Empirical Issues in the Measurement of Union Power and Corporatism’ British Journal of Political Science, 26, (July 1996) pp. 419-428.
• ‘Human Rights Violations, Umbrella Concepts, and Empirical Analysis’ James M. McCormick and Neil J. Mitchell World Politics, 49, (July 1997) pp. 510-525.Reprinted in Todd Landman ed.  Human Rights (Sage Publications: 2009)
• ‘The Determinants of Domestic and Foreign Corporate Political Activity’ Neil J. Mitchell, Wendy Hansen, and Eric Jepsen Journal of Politics, 59, (November 1997) pp. 1096-1113.
• “Disaggregating and Explaining Corporate Political Activity: Domestic and Foreign Corporations in National Politics” Wendy Hansen and Neil J. Mitchell American Political Science Review (December 2000) 94: 891-903
• “Globalization or National Capitalism: Large Corporations, National Strategies, and Political Activities,” Wendy Hansen and Neil J. Mitchell Business and Politics (April 2001) 3: 5-19
• ‘Foreign and Domestic Policy Belief Structures in the US and Britain’ Hank Jenkins-Smith, Neil J. Mitchell, and Kerry Herron Journal of Conflict Resolution, (June 2004) 48: 287-309
• “Democracy and Human Rights in the Mexican States: Elections or Social Capital” Caroline Beer and Neil J. Mitchell International Studies Quarterly, (June 2004) 48:293-312
• ‘Collective Action, Pluralism, and the Legitimacy Tariff:  Corporate Activity or Inactivity in Politics’ Wendy Hansen, Neil J. Mitchell, and Jeffrey Drope Political Research Quarterly (September 2004) 57: pp. 421-29
• ‘Compound Democracy and the Control of Corruption:  A Cross-Country Investigation’ Alok K. Bohara, Neil J. Mitchell, and Carl F. MittendorffPolicy Studies Journal (November 2004) pp. 481-499.
• ‘The Logic of Private and Collective Action’ Jeffrey Drope, Wendy L. Hansen, and Neil J. Mitchell American Journal of Political Science (January 2005) 49: 150-16
• ‘Opportunity, Democracy and Political Violence:  A Sub-national Analysis of Conflict in Nepal’ Alok Bohara, Neil J. Mitchell, and Mani Nepal Journal of Conflict Resolution (February 2006) 50:108-28.
• ‘Comparing Nations and States: Human Rights and Democracy in India’ Caroline Beer and Neil J Mitchell Comparative Political Studies (October 2006) 39 (8):996-1018
• ‘Elite Beliefs, Epistemic Communities and the Atlantic Divide:Scientists’ Nuclear Policy Preferences in the United States and European Union’Neil J. Mitchell, Hank Jenkins-Smith, Kerry Herron, and Guy Whitten British Journal of Political Science (October 2007) 37: 753-64.
• ‘Security Forces and Sexual Violence: A Cross-National Analysis of a Principal-Agent Argument’ Christopher K. Butler, Tali Gluch, and Neil J. Mitchell Journal of Peace Research (November 2007) 44: 669-87.
• ‘The Good Corporation and the Logic of Transnational Action,’Lynn Bennie, Patrick Bernhagen and Neil J. Mitchell Political Studies (December 2007) 55: 733-53 Reprinted in Global Social Policy Reader, eds Nicola Yeates and Chris Holden. The Policy Press, 2009.
• ‘Commitments, Transnational Interests, and Congress: Who Joins the Congressional Human Rights Caucus?’ James McCormick and Neil J. Mitchell, Political Research Quarterly (December 2007) 60:579-92.
• ‘Human Rights Violations, Corruption, and the Policy of Repression’ Alok Bohara, Neil J. Mitchell, Mani Nepal, Nejem Raheem Policy Studies Journal (February 2008) 36:1-18.
• ‘The Determinants of Direct Corporate Lobbying in the European Union’ Patrick Bernhagen and Neil J. Mitchell European Union Politics (June 2009) 10: 155-176.
• ‘The Private Provision of Public Goods: Corporate Commitments and the United Nations Global Compact,’ Patrick Bernhagen and Neil J. Mitchell International Studies Quarterly (December 2010) 54:1175-1187.
• ‘States, the Security Sector, and the Monopoly of Violence””Sabine Carey, Neil Mitchell and Will Lowe Journal of Peace Research (March 2013) 50: 249-258
• ‘The Impact of Pro-Government Militias on Human Rights Violations’ Neil J. Mitchell, Sabine C. Carey and Christopher K. Butler International Interactions: Empirical and Theoretical Research in International Relations (2014) 40:812–836.
• ‘Governments, informal links to militias, and accountability’Sabine C. Carey, Michael P. Colaresi, and Neil J. Mitchell Journal of Conflict Resolution (August 2015) 59(5): 850-876
• ‘Risk Mitigation, Regime Security, and Militias: Beyond Coup-proofing’ Sabine C. Carey, Michael P. Colaresi, and Neil J. Mitchell International Studies Quarterly (2016) 60 (1): 59-72.
• ‘Pro-Government Militias and Conflict’ Sabine C. Carey and Neil J. Mitchell. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics Online publication October 2016
• “‘Pro-Government Militias’ ” Sabine C. Carey and Neil J. Mitchell Annual Review of Political Science 2017
• ‘When States Crack Down on Human Rights Defenders’ Kristin M. Bakke, Hannah Smidt and Neil J. Mitchell International Studies Quarterly (March 2020) 64 (1): 85-96
• “Silencing Their Critics: How Government Restrictions Against Civil Society Affect International ‘Naming and Shaming’” Hannah Smidt, Dominic Perera, Neil J. Mitchell, and Kristin Bakke, British Journal of Political Science online (February 2020).