Political Science and International Relations Research Interests
On this page:
Overview
The academics and graduate students in the Political Science and International Relations Programme undertake research in a wide variety of areas. Our research is highly interdisciplinary and uses a diverse set of methodologies and theories. Concentrations of expertise exist in a number of areas with critical mass providing depth and experience for post-graduate supervision and the opportunity for collaborative research projects and grant applications.
For more information please see the Research Cluster section below. For detailed research agendas and lists of publications please consult the profiles of individual staff.
A selection of current research projects being undertaken by the staff are below and on our Research Centres and Projects page.
For a full list of research agendas and publications of individual staff members please consult the individual staff pages.
Information on upcoming conferences and events can be found on our news and events page.
Affiliations
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The Programme is caretaker to a set of specific research and publication initiatives. Professor Xiaoming Huang runs - and members of the Programme contribute to - the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre.
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Dr John Leslie is the Victoria Representative on the Executive Board of the New Zealand European Union Centres Network.
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The Programme is responsible for the journal Political Science published by Sage and currently edited by Dr Kate McMillan and Dr David Capie.
- And finally, the Programme publishes online its own Occasional Working Papers Series. (Under development)
Research Clusters
China/East Asia/Pacific:
economic development; foreign policy; regionalism
Conflict and Security:
multilateral cooperation; critical security studies; feminist security studies; non-state armed groups; peacekeeping; post-conflict policies; violence and trauma
Europe/North America :
comparative integration; institutional development; media; political leadership; political parties
Global Governance:
development and aid; global norms; human rights; international organisations
Immigration, Citizenship and Political Representation:
democratic theory; ethno-cultural diversity; nationalism; populism; refugees and asylum seekers
New Zealand Politics:
elections; ideologies; leadership; media; political parties; foreign policy
Political Economy:
international political economy; global finance; institutional analysis; regionalism; varieties of capitalism
Political and International Relations Theory:
cosmopolitanism; critical theory; culture, race and international relations; democratic theory; history of political thought; non-Western thought
Recent Major Publications
Xiaoming Huang (ed)
The Institutional Dynamics of China's Great Transformation (Abingdon, Oxon and New York: Routledge, 2010)
This book examines the role of institutions in China’s recent large-scale economic, social and political transformation. The book argues that, although the importance of institutions in China’s rapid economic growth and social development over the past 30 years is widely acknowledged, exactly how institutions affect changes in particular national and historical settings is less well understood. Unlike existing literature, it offers perspectives from a variety of disciplines - including law, economics, politics, international relations and communication studies – to consider whether institutions form, evolve and change differently according to their historical or cultural environments and if their utilitarian functions can, and should be, observed, identified and measured in different ways.
Stephen Levine (ed)
New Zealand As It Might Have Been II, (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2010)
This is the second volume of New Zealand speculative histories. A further 17 portraits of possible New Zealand history are explored, a mix of short stories and commentaries, some whimsical, others grim, each offering a perceptive and plausible new slant on significant events and personalities. An excellent series of radio documentaries, featuring authors from both volumes, can be found here.
Jon Johansson
The Politics of Possibility: Leadership in Changing Times, (Wellington: Dunmore, 2010)
Jon Johansson discusses leadership in New Zealand with particular regard to the dynamics of the 2008 general election. Taking into account the contrasting politics and personalities of John Key, Helen Clark and others before them, he analyses the outcome of the election and prospects for the present and future. He also provides a framework for understanding the issues involved in the coming 2011 MMP referendum and discusses the idea of republicanism in New Zealand
Stephen Levine (ed)
Pacific Ways: Government and Politics in the Pacific Islands, (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2010)
Examining the politics of each Pacific Island state and territory, this well-researched volume discusses historical background and colonial experience, constitutional framework, political institutions, political parties, elections and electoral systems, and problems and prospects.
Stephen Levine and Nigel Roberts (eds)
Key to Victory: The New Zealand General Election of 2008, (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2010)
A series of insiders' views on New Zealand's most recent general election, this record shows how John Key became the country's 38th Prime Minister. Accounts from politicians and media personalities describe the details of the successful campaign and the oddity of covering a campaign where the likely winner seemed to be preordained. This chronicle reveals how Key, riding on a popular mood for 'change', persuaded New Zealanders to vote out the left-leaning Labour Government and elect the leader of the National Party.
Kate McMillan, John Leslie and Elizabeth McLeay (eds)Rethinking Women and Politics: New Zealand and Comparative Perspectives,
(Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2010)
Analysing the gender politics in New Zealand, this account explores feminism, women's voting and representation, and areas of conflict and cooperation. Comparing New Zealand with both the United Kingdom and Germany, this thought-provoking history is a useful reflection on the position of women in New Zealand society after a period of extensive social and political change.