Academic Staff - M Flinders

Professor Matthew Flinders, B.A. (Loughborough), Ph.D.(Sheffield)

Matthew Flinders

Professor

Telephone: +44 (0)114 222 1680
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 1717
Room: G.65 Elmfield
Feedback & Consultation hours: Tues 0900-1000, Thur 0900-1000

email : M.V.Flinders@sheffield.ac.uk

Profile

Professor Flinders studied at Loughborough University before coming to the University of Sheffield to complete his doctorate in public policy and governance. He was appointed to a permanent Lectureship in 2000 (Senior Lecturer 2003, Reader 2005, Professor 2009). He was Sub-Dean for Graduate Affairs during 2004-2005 and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences 2005-2006.

Prizes

  • 2002 Harrison Prize for the best article published in Political Studies
  • 2004 Richard Rose Prize for the most outstanding young scholar working in the field of British and Irish politics

Teaching

POL103 Introduction to Political Analysis

POL 3023 Delegated Governance

POL 3018 Advanced Political Analysis

POL6630 New Forms of Governance

Current Research

Dr Flinders is currently working on the following issues: modes of depoliticisation; governance and public policy; legislative studies with a focus on parliamentary scrutiny of the executive and the extended state; majoritarian modification and constitutional reforms; territorial and functional decentralisation; and, the politics of delegation. He is working on a number of books and is a co-director of the Depoliticisation Research Network.

Recent Projects

  • 2005-2006 Whitehall Fellowship (Cabinet Office)
    This project focused on the sphere of delegated governance and particularly how the architecture of the state beyond the core had changed since May 1997. Of particular significance were the issues of internal control, external accountability, depoliticisation, patronage and delegation. This was a collaborative project with the Cabinet Officer’s Agencies and Public Bodies Team and also involved close collaboration with a number of other departments, notably the PM’s Strategy Unit, HM Treasury, National Audit Office and the and Prime Minister's Policy Unit.
  • 2005-2006 Leverhulme Research Fellowship
    ’Depoliticisation, Democracy and Arena-Shifting’ was a piece of conceptual and empirical research that attempted to understand and map different forms of depoliticisation and the inter-play and complementarity between them. This built upon my previous collaborative work with Jim Buller (York) and led to the establishment of the Depoliticisation Research Network which brings together academics and practitioners from a range of disciplines who share an interest in this topic. The Network is currently arranging a series of conferences and research funding applications.

Current Projects

  • Democracy in Britain: New Labour and the Constitution. This is a broad ranging analysis of recent constitutional reforms in Britain that updates the framework devised in Lijphart’s Models of Democracy. This is an extended version of the 14,000 word article I published in West European Politics in 2005. The project will result in a single authored monograph (contract signed with Oxford University Press) and a number of articles and book chapters.
  • Walking Without Order: Delegated Governance and the British State. This project examines the politics of delegation in Britain in a way that challenges the dominant tradition in the study of delegation within British political studies. This will lead to a 100,000 research monograph that I am writing with Matthew Denton and should be completed by the end of the year for publication in 2008. I have signed a contract with Oxford University Press for the book.
  • Depoliticisation, Democracy and Arena-Shifting. This is an element of my research that has become increasingly prominent in recent years. It has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention and led to a debate being played out on the pages of the British Journal of Politics and International Relations during 2006-2007. It has also fed into a number of official and parliamentary inquiries. I have recently established a Research Network on the topic with Colin Hay and Jim Buller. The aim of the network is to draw together scholars and practitioners with an interest in the topic in order to collaborate on publications and grant applications.
  • Patronage and Political Parties. This is part of an EU funded international research network led by Peter Mair (EUI) and Petr Kopecky (Leiden). I will be leading the British part of this project. The project will begin with a research seminar in Florence in November and I hope to base an ESRC small grant application on this project.

Key Publications

Books

  • New Politics, New Parliament? Parliamentary Modernisation Under Labour. Flinders, M. McHugh, D and Brazier, A.London: 9Hansard Society 2005)
  • Multi-level Governance (co-edited with Ian Bache) (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2004) 320pp
  • The Politics of Accountability in the Modern State (London, Ashgate, 2001) 435pp
  • Quangos, Accountability and Reform: The Politics of Quasi-Government (co-edited with Martin Smith) (London, Macmillan, 1999) 216pp

Journal Articles

  • ‘Analysing Reform: The House of Commons 2001-2005’ Political Studies, 55 (1), 174-200.
  • ‘Volcanic Politics: Executive-Legislative Relations in Britain, 1997-2005’ Australian Journal of Political Science, 41 (3), 385-407.
  • ‘Depoliticisation: Principles, Tactics and Tools’, British Politics, 1 (3), 1-26.
  • ‘Depoliticisation: A Response to Peter Burnham’, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 8 (2), 307-311.
  • ‘Democracy, Devolution and Delegated Governance in Scotland’, Regional and Federal Studies, 16 (1), 63-82.
  • ‘Depoliticisation in British Politics: The Domestic Antecedents of New Labour's Statecraft’, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 7 (4), 526-544.
  • 'The Politics of Public-Private Partnerships', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 7 (2), 543-567, 2005
  • 'Majoritarian Democracy in Britain', West European Politics, 28 (1), (2005)
  • 'Multi-Level Governance and the Study of the British State' (with Ian Bache), Public Policy and Administration, 19 (1), 31-52, 2004
  • 'Icebergs and MPs: Delegated Governance and Parliament', Parliamentary Affairs, 57 (4), 767-784, 2004
  • 'Distributed Public Governance in the European Union', Journal of European Public Policy, 11 (3), 520-544, 2004
  • 'Distributed Public Governance in Britain', Public Administration, 82: 4, 2004
  • 'Shifting the Balance? Parliament, the Executive and the British Constitution', Political Studies, 50 (2), 23-42, 2002 - Winner of the Political Studies Association's 2002 Harrison Prize for the Best Article
  • 'Governance in Whitehall', Public Administration, 80 (1), 51-75, 2002
  • 'Mechanisms of Judicial Accountability in British Central Government', Parliamentary Affairs, 54 (1), 54-71, 2001
  • 'The Enduring Centrality of Individual Ministerial Responsibility Within the British Constitution', Journal of Legislative Studies, 6 (3), 73-91, 2000
  • 'The Politics of Accountability: A Case Study of Freedom of Information Legislation in the United Kingdom', Political Quarterly, 71 (4), 422-436, 2000
  • 'Opening or Closing Pandora's Box? New Labour and the Quango State' (with Cole, C), Talking Politics, 11 (4), 234-240, 1999
  • 'British Quasi-Government: History, Diversity and Debate', Talking Politics, 11 (3), 176-181, 1999
  • 'Quangos - What's in a Name? - Defining Quangos from a Comparative Perspective', (with Thiel, S van & Greve, C), Governance, 12 (2), 129-147, 1999

Book Chapters

  • Quangos: Why Do Governments Love Them?' in Flinders, M, Harden, I & Marquand, D Eds. (1997) How To Make Quangos Democratic (London : Charter 88) pp. 32-42
  • 'Maybe Minister: Quangos and Accountability' (with McConnel, H) in Flinders, M, Harden, I & Marquand, D Eds. (1997) How To Make Quangos Democratic (London : Charter 88) pp. 42-52
  • 'Setting the Scene - Quangos in Context' in Flinders, M V & Smith M J Eds. (1998) Quangos, Accountability and Reform: The Politics of Quasi-Government (London : Macmillan) pp. 3-17.4
  • 'Diversity and Complexity: The Quango Continuum' (with McConnel, H) in Flinders, M V & Smith M J Eds. (1999) Quangos, Accountability and Reform: The Politics of Quasi-Government (London : Macmillan) pp. 17-26
  • 'Realising the Democratic Potential of Quangos' in Flinders, M V & Smith M J Eds. (1999) Quangos, Accountability and Reform: The Politics of Quasi-Government (London : Macmillan) pp. 201-211
  • 'Freedom of Information and Open Government in the UK' in Sobanska, A. (ed.) Freedom of Information: A Comparative Perspective (Warsaw, PMC, 2001) pp. 79-92
  • 'New Labour and the Constitution' in Ludlam, S & Smith, M (eds.) New Labour: Politics and Policy Under Blair (London, Palgrave, 2003) pp. 126-143
  • 'Themes and Issues in Multi-Level Governance' (with Bache, I) in Bache, I & Flinders, M (eds.) Multi-Level Governance (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004) pp. 1-15
  • 'Multi-Level Governance and British Politics' (with Bache, I) in Bache, I & Flinders, M (eds.) Multi-Level Governance (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004) pp. 93-107
  • 'Multi-Level Governance: Conclusions and Implications' (with Bache, I) in Bache, I & Flinders, M (eds.) Multi-Level Governance (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004) pp.195-207
  • ‘Scrutiny at and Beyond the Fringe’ in Giddings, P ed. The Future of Parliament: Change or Decay? London: Palgrave.(2005)
  • ‘The Boundaries of the State’ in Hay, C Marsh, D and Lister, M eds. The State London: Palgrave.(2005)
  • ‘Governance in Whitehall’ in Hodges, R ed. Governance and the Public Sector. London: Edward Elgar. (2005)
  • ‘The Half-Hearted Constitutional Revolution’ in Dunleavy, P et al. eds. Developments in British Politics 8. London : Palgrave. (2006)
  • ‘The Politics of Public-Private Partnerships in the United Kingdom’ in Rouillard, C ed. Public-Private Partnerships and the Reconfiguration of the State: Challenges and Issues for Democratic Governance. Ottowa: University of Ottowa Press. (2006)
  • ‘Depoliticization, Democracy and Arena Shifting’ in Lægreid, P and Christensen, T eds. Autonomy and Regulation: Coping with Agencies in the Modern State. London: Edward Elgar. (2006)
  • . ‘Reconciling Efficiency and Accountability: New Labour’s Strategy of Public-Private Partnerships in Public Administration and Welfare Reform’ in Bluhdorn, I and Jun, U eds. Economic Efficiency and Democratic Empowerment: Contested Modernisation in Britain and Germany. Lanham U.S.: Lexington Books. (2007)
  • Rebuilding Strategic Capacity? Multi-Level Governance, Leadership and Public Service Agreements in Britain’ in Koch, R ed. Public Governance and Leadership. Berlin: Gabler Verlag. (2007)
  • The Politics and Politicisation of Delegation’ in Flinders, M Hay, C Gamble, A and Kenny, M eds. Oxford Handbook of British Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming 2008

PhD Supervision

He is keen to supervise research students in the following areas (broadly defined): Dr Flinders is currently working on the following issues: modes of depoliticisation; governance and public policy; legislative studies with a focus on parliamentary scrutiny of the executive and the extended state; majoritarian modification and constitutional reforms; territorial and functional decentralisation; and, the politics of delegation.

Dr Flinders is currently supervising a number of doctoral students who are working in the following areas.

Local Governance and Reform
Comparative Multi-Level Analysis
Party Politics, Governance and Devolution
Multi-Level Governance and the Evolving Structure of the British State
Governance and Information Communications Technology
Incentives and Sanctions in relation to Public Policy
Models of Privatisation

Videos

Multi-Level Governance