Biography

Jonathan Bradbury is Reader in Politics and Head of the Department of Political and Cultural Studies.  He joined Swansea University in 1992, after previous posts at the universities of Bristol, London and Warwick.

He is the editor of Devolution, Regionalism and Regional Development, the UK Experience (Routledge, 2008) and co-editor of British Regionalism and Devolution, the Challenges of State Reform and European Integration (Routledge, 1997). He has edited special editions of Government and Opposition (2010), Perspectives on European Politics and Society (2009), Regional and Federal Studies (2007) and Regional Studies (1996). He is also the author of Government and County, A History of Northamptonshire County Council, 1889-1989 (Bristol University Press, 1989).

Jonathan has published a wide range of articles in political science journals, including Political Studies, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Publius, the Journal of Federalism, Parliamentary Affairs and the Journal of Legislative Studies.  He has also written chapters for edited volumes and is a contributor to J.Tonge & A.Gedded (ed) Britain Votes 2010  (Palgrave). He is a contributor to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (3rd edn 2009) and the Dictionary of National Biography. 

Jonathan’s research has been externally funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Nuffield Foundation, and the British Academy. He regularly gives conference papers, including at UKPSA, APSA and ECPR, and has delivered invited lectures recently at Yonsei University, South Korea (2010) and the Centre for New Zealand Studies, University of London (2008). He was a keynote speaker at the inaugural conference of the Welsh Institute of Economic and Social Research, Data and Methods held at Cardiff University in June 2010.  He has also provided reports, evidence or talks to a number of public bodies throughout the UK including House of Commons select committees, the Electoral Commission, the Northern Ireland Review of Public Administration, and the Arbuthnott and Richard Commissions. 

Jonathan was the academic convenor and organiser for the 58th UK Political Studies Association annual conference, held at Swansea University 1-3 April 2008. He has been convenor and joint convenor of the PSA Territorial Politics Group since 1994. The Group’s most recent biennial conference was held at Oxford University, 7-8 January 2010.  In 2009-10 he organised the inaugural seminar series of the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales on ‘The State of the Nation: Wales Ten Years after devolution’.  In 2010 he introduced the Swansea University National Assembly of Wales monthly Briefings series.   

Current Research

Jonathan is currently completing a monograph for Palgrave entitled Union and Devolution, Territorial Politics in the United Kingdom as well as a number of journal articles. He is also funded by he Belgium Research Council to conduct research on the UK as part of a 14-country comparative study of politicians and their approaches to democratic representation and participation.  Equally, he is funded by the German Research Foundation to contribute to a comparative project on federal and regional constitutional change.

Selected Recent Publications

• Bradbury, J (2010) ‘Jim Bulpitt’s Territory and Power in the United Kingdom and interpreting political development: bringing the state and temporal analysis back in’ Government and Opposition, 45, 3, 318-344 (link).
• Bradbury, J and Andrews, R. (2010), ‘State devolution and national identity: continuity and change in the politics of Welshness and Britishness in Wales’ Parliamentary Affairs, 63, 2, 229-249 (link).
• Bradbury, J and Stafford, I. (2010), ‘The effectiveness of legislative mechanisms for the devolution of powers in the UK: the case of transport devolution to Wales’ Public Money and Management, 30, 2, 97-102 (link).
• Bradbury, J. (2009) 'The best of both worlds?  MMP electoral reform and constitutional development in Scotland and Wales', New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law, 7, 2009, 157-183 (link).
• Bradbury, J. and Bideleux, R. (2009) Reconstituting Political order in Europe: West and East, special issue editors of Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 10.1, 2009.
• Bradbury, J. (2008) Devolution, Regionalism and Regional Development: the UK Experience (London: Routledge), 225pp (link).
• Bradbury, J. (2008) ‘Devolution and public policy in Wales: a case-study of transport’ (with Ian Stafford) Contemporary Wales, 21, 67-85
• Bradbury, J. (2007) Constituency Representation, Devolution and MMP Electoral Systems: Comparative and UK Perspectives, special issue editor for Regional and Federal Studies, 17(1) (link).
• Bradbury, J. (2006) ‘British statewide parties and multilevel politics’ (with Jonathan Hopkin) Publius, The Journal of Federalism, 36(1), 135-152 (link).
• Bradbury, J. (2006) ‘Territory and Power revisited: theorising territorial politics in the United Kingdom after devolution’ Political Studies, 54(3), 559-582 (link).

Selected research awards, fellowships, & prizes

• Policy making and legislation in Wales: the National Assembly for Wales and the case of transport policy, Board of Celtic Studies, Social Science Research competition for 2005-06, £27, 869.  
• Multi-tier politics and its impact on local representation in Scotland and Wales, (with Meg Russell and James Mitchell) Economic and Social Research Council, 2002-05, £55, 006. 
• Black and minority ethnic (BME) voters and the 2003 Elections to the National Assembly for Wales, All Wales Ethnic Minority Association 2003-04, £15,185.
• Candidate selection and candidate attitudes for the 1999 Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales Elections (with David Denver [PI], James Mitchell and Lynn Bennie), Economic and Social Research Council, 1999-2000, £39, 511.