Social Sciences, University of Southampton

Will Jennings is Senior Lecturer at the University of Southampton. Previously I was a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (2005-2008) and Hallsworth Research Fellow in Political Economy (2010-2012) and ESRC Research Fellow (2008-2010) at the University of Manchester. I completed my D.Phil. at the University of Oxford in 2004. I am Co-Director of the UK Policy Agendas Project (www.policyagendas.org.uk), a Research Associate at the Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Vice-Convenor of the Executive Politics and Governance Specialist Group of the UK Political Studies Association. I am currently working on an ESRC Research Grant ‘The Politics of Competence: Longitudinal and Comparative Analysis’ with Jane Green (University of Manchester).


Broadly, I undertake research in the area of executive politics and administration of mega-projects and mega-events, specifically in relation to the governance of risk, at the same time as pursuing interests related to the dynamic nature of politics and public policy at the aggregate level - in particular in relation to opinion-responsiveness of government, how competence shapes political competition and citizens' evaluations of parties, policy agendas and electoral behaviour. I use a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, specialising in particular in the use of time series analysis for the study of public opinion and public policy.

I am a member of the UK Political Studies Association and the American Political Science Association. I have published in the American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, European Journal of Political Research, Comparative Political Studies, Political Studies, Public Opinion Quarterly, Electoral Studies, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Government and Opposition, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, Journal of European Public Policy and European Political Science Review in addition to a number of chapters in edited volumes. Olympic Risks, my book about governance of the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement, is published by Palgrave Macmillan in the summer of 2012.

Research interests:

• Executive Government.
• Public Opinion & Public Policy.
• Comparative and British Politics.
• Political Methodology.
• Political Behaviour.
• The Politics and the Management of Risk in Mega-Projects and Mega-Events such as the Olympic Games.
• Dynamic Modelling of Politics & Policy.

Current research projects:

• Party Competition and the Politics of Competence (with Jane Green).
• The UK Policy Agendas Project (with Peter John and Shaun Bevan).
• Risk Management and the Olympics.
• Issue Salience and Policy Preferences (with Chris Wlezien).
• Longitudinal Analysis of Socio-Economic Conditions and Crime Rates in the UK (with Stephen Farrall and Colin Hay).