Royal seal of approval for political expertise
Political science research plays a valuable role in contributing to key policy.
Since 1964, academics from our world-renowned Department of Government have been leaders in political science, carrying out cutting-edge research which feeds into evidence-based policy-making to help us understand the world.
This political science expertise was recognised when the honour of a Regius Professorship was conferred on the University by Her Majesty The Queen - a rare privilege and one of the highest possible academic accolades.
Social sciences gain recognition after war
After 1945, the study of political science developed rapidly.
It was a time when, according to our founding Vice-Chancellor Sir Albert Sloman, social sciences were “at last gaining recognition in this country”.
Young scholars from across the world were particularly attracted to the UK by exciting new methods of scientific enquiry, applied in innovative ways to the study of politics.
Since opening in 1964, the University of Essex has been at the forefront of political science.
Our founding Professor of Government Jean Blondel quickly established its reputation for taking a scientific approach, and over the past 60 years Essex has been a top UK hot-house for nurturing the next generation of political science talent.
Appointing academic giants such as Professors Ivor Crewe, Anthony King, Emil Kirchner, David Sanders, Albert Weale, Aletta Norval, Vicky Randall and Paul Whiteley, Essex can rightly claim to have been the intellectual home to a significant proportion of the UK’s leading researchers.
Former Essex PhD students have also become prominent academics in all five corners of the world, attesting to its global reach.
Professor Jean Blondel
Professor Jean Blondel
Professor Jean Blondel
Professor Jean Blondel
By royal appointment
A Regius Professor is a university professor with royal patronage. Appointed by the Monarch on ministerial advice, a Regius Professorship is a rare privilege dating back to 1497, and one of the highest possible academic accolades.
In 2013, the late Queen Elizabeth II awarded 12 new Regius Professorships to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee and the University of Essex was given the right to appoint the UK’s first Regius Professor of Political Science.
It recognised 50 years of the University’s Department of Government being at the forefront of political science and its unrivalled reputation for the quality of its research and the commitment of staff to our students.
“This award is particularly gratifying for us as we mark the 50th anniversary of the appointment of our founding professor, Jean Blondel. He established Essex as the UK’s premier university for political science and he defined the distinctive type of political science that we still conduct at Essex.”
Flashback: Professor Thomas Plümper, Head of Department of Government 2013
Powerhouse of political science expertise
The Department of Government is at the forefront of the University’s pre-eminence in the social sciences.
As you might expect from world leaders in political science, the department was the first of its kind in the UK and continues to be celebrated for putting the science into politics.
Since its foundation it has built a solid reputation as one of the best political science departments in the UK and is currently ranked 2nd in the UK for research outputs in politics and international studies (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
The Department is renowned for its expertise in political behaviour, comparative politics, ideology and discourse analysis, international relations and conflict resolution.
The international strength of political science research at the Essex is recognised in a new global ranking of research productivity.
The comprehensive study, published in the American Political Science Association journal PS: Political Science & Politics, ranked Essex’s Department of Government in the top five in Europe for citations, impact based on ‘journal impact factors’, top publications, recent impact and recent top publications.
Professor Faten Ghosn, Head of the Department of Government said: “This achievement is a testament to the tireless dedication, intellectual rigor, and collaborative spirit of our colleagues, who continue to uphold and advance our department’s longstanding reputation for research excellence.”
And the honour goes to...
An internationally-renowned expert on British politics, Professor David Sanders held the Regius Professorship between 2013 and 2017.
He is the author of numerous influential books and articles on UK politics and also co-edited the top UK political science journal, the British Journal of Political Science, between 1990 and 2008.
Professor Sanders is a Fellow of the British Academy and received a Special Recognition Award from the Political Studies Association in 2012 for his commitment to outstanding research which has shaped public understanding of politics.
From 2000-2012 he was a Principal Investigator for the British Election Study, which is conducted at every General Election to study electoral behaviour and how elections contribute to the operation of our democracy.
The Regius Lecture
To celebrate the appointment of Professor David Sanders as the UK's first Regius Professor of Political Science, in 2014 he gave a Regius Professorship lecture - titled The Reluctant Europeans: Britain and the EU, 1973-2015.
In the lecture, Professor Sanders highlighted that opinion polls indicated calling a referendum on continued membership of the European Union would pose huge political risks to then Prime Minister David Cameron. His prediction came true two years later as Mr Cameron resigned after the UK voted to leave the EU.
It was followed by a panel discussion chaired by the then Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP, one of the University's most distinguished Government graduates. The panel also included Professor Anthony King, the Rt Hon the Baroness Williams of Crosby and Professor Dame Helen Wallace.
Since then, the Regius Lecture have continued to be a prestigious annual event which invites a world-class scholar to present their cutting-edge research in political science.
Watch the lecture and panel discussion on our Vimeo channel
Professor Anthony King
Professor Anthony King
Peace researcher receives royal approval
Professor Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, an internationally-renowned figure in the study of conflict resolution, democratisation and political change, succeeded Professor David Sanders as our new Regius Professor of Political Science in 2017.
He has extensively researched the causes of conflict and conflict modelling, and how these insights can be used to improve prediction of conflict as well as more fundamental contributions to the methodology of prediction and conflict research.
Professor Gleditsch was ranked amongst Europe’s top political science scholars for number of citations, impact, top publications and recent impact in a new comprehensive study, published in the American Political Science Association journal PS: Political Science & Politics.
He has also been consistently listed in the top 100,000 of the world’s most cited academics, placing him among the top 2% in the world, by the journal PLOS Biology.
Professor Gleditsch is an award-winning author of two books and over 70 journal articles. His co-authored book, Inequality, Grievances, and Civil War, which argues that political and economic inequalities cause grievances likely to give rise to civil war, has won four awards.
On being awarded the Regius chair, Professor Gleditsch said: “I am both honoured and humbled. But achievements are rarely entirely individual, and my record has very much benefited from my collaborators, students, and my colleagues in the Department of Government.
“It’s a department that has a long-standing tradition for rigorous theoretical and empirical research in Political Science, and this is very much what attracted me to Essex in the first place. I hope that I can use this appointment to help contribute further to this tradition, alongside strengthening appreciation for the role of research, both within the discipline and public life.”
Working with colleagues, Professor Gleditsch is currently leading a major £2.1million project which brings together expertise from the UK and Africa to develop a deeper understanding of how multilingual skills and practices affect the risk of conflict and prospects for conflict resolution.
“If we are to make the world more peaceful, it will be through knowledge of the kind that Gleditsch has developed.”
Professor Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor, Department of Psychology, Harvard University
Find out more
The Regius Lecture
The Regius Lecture is a prestigious annual event held by the Department of Government at the University of Essex.
Department of Government
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