What are the implications of policy professionals gaining more and more influence over the political agenda, rather than elected officials? This project examines how these policy professionals, who are employed rather than elected to office, view their work.

Most researchers in the field are in agreement that a diploma from apprenticeship-based vocational training gives a smoother school-to-work transition than a diploma from school-based vocational train

This paper examines the Nordic Social Democratic parties’ own efforts to manage the inner and outer challenges of the so-called Nordic welfare model, i.e. how it is described, legitimized, and what ro

Dr. Ashwini Vasanthakumar, University of Oxford Title and abstract to be announced. Ashwini Vasanthakumar's research focuses on exile, migration and transnational politics and her research interests are

Stéphane Zuber

I am an economist at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris and an associate professor at Paris School of Economics. I work on issues of intergenerational equity and climate poli

Hilary Greaves

I am a Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Global Priorities Institute, at the University of Oxford. My current research focuses on various issues in moral philosophy. My interests include: fo.

Amber L. Beckley

Amber is Associate Professor in Criminology at Stockholm University and Senior Lecturer at Örebro University. Her research focuses on how developmental factors influence criminal offending and victimi

"Knowing the Game: Motivations and Skills Among Partisan Policy Professionals", Journal of professions and organizations, Advance Access published September 21, 2016, doi: 10.1093/jpo/jow008 Abstract This

Working Paper 2016 no.1(Published in Journal of Professions and Organization, Vol 4 (1):55-69 (2017). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jpo/jow008) This paper focuses on “policy professionals”, i.e. people whinfluence the course of affairs, while their working-life satisfaction comes from getting their message into the media without becoming personally exposed. The key resource of policy professionals is context-dependent politically useful knowledge, in three main forms: “Problem formulation” involves highlighting and framing social problems and their possible solutions. “Process expertise” consists of understandingthe “where, how and why” of the political and policy-making processes. “Information access” is the skill to be very fast in finding reliable and relevant information. These motivations and skills underpin a particular professionalism based in an “entrepreneurial ethos”, which differs from both the ethos of elected politicians, and that of civil servants, and which has some potentially problematic implications for democratic governance.

Tim Campbell

I am a researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies. I defended my dissertation in October 2015 at Rutgers University.  My research focuses on a range of topics related to the evaluation of different