Biography

Toby joined the Department in 2008 from the University of York where he cmpleted an ESRC funded PhD thesis on comparative election administration.  He was previously a British Research Council Visiting Scholar in the John W.Kluge Center in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

His research focusses on: (i) election laws and practices (particularly election administration); (ii) statecraft theory and political leadership; and, (iii) theories of policy change.  He has had articles published in international journals such as Contemporary Politics, Election Law Journal, British Politics and Briotish Journal of Politics and International Relations and has a research monograph forthcoming with Palgrave.

Toby has written commissioned policy reports for national and international organisations.  His research has been externally funded by the AHRC, ESRC, Nuffield Foundation and the McDougall Trust.

Administrative Duties

Toby is on research leave from August 2011 - January 2012.

Current Research

Toby is currently working on a number of research projects:

• A research monograph on statecraft and election administration to be published by Palgrave
• A study of the effects of performance monitoring schemes on election administration, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and McDougall Trust.  Toby explains the project in detail here.
• Methods for assessing national political leaders.  He is currently working with Jim Buller at the University of York on how assessing the statecraft British political leaders.

Selected recent publications include:

• (forthcoming) 'Statecraft and the Assessment of National Political Leaders: the Case of New Labour and Tony Blair', British Journal of Politics and International Relations (with Jim Buller).
• (forthcoming) Statecraft and Election Administration (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
• (2011, forthcoming), 'Only in America? Executive partisan interest and the politics of election administration in Ireland, the UK and USA', Contemporary Politics, 17(3), p.219-240.
• (2011) 'Fewer "costs," more votes? U.K. Innovations in Electoral Administration 2000-2007 and their effect on voter turnout', Election Law Journal, 10(1) p.37-52.
• (2010) 'Electoral Administration and Voter Turnout: Towards an International Public Policy Continuum', Journal of Representation, 46(4), p.369-89.
• (2010) 'Electoral modernisation or elite statecraft: Electoral administration in the UK 1997-2007', British Politics, 5(2), p.179-201.
• (2010) 'Researching Electoral Administration in America: Insights from the "post-Florida" era', Political Studies Review, 8(3).
• (2009) 'What ever happened to Régulation Theory? The Régulation Approach and local government revisited', Policy Studies, 30(2), p181-201.

Selected research awards, fellowships, & prizes

• Nuffield Foundation Social Sciences Small Grant Scheme 2011
• McDougall Trust Small Grant 2011
• ESRC National Centre for Research Methods Training Bursary 2010
• ESRC Institutional Visit Scholarship Summer 2008
• J.W.Kluge Centre Library of Congress Scholarship 2007
• ESRC +3 Doctoral Award 2005-8

Professional Memberships

• Member of the UK Political Studies Association
• Member of the Political Studies Association sub-groups in Elections, Parties and Public Opinion and Political Leadership.
• Associate of the Higher Education Academy

PhD Supervision

Toby welcomes applications and enquiries from prospective research students interested in any of his research interests listed above.