APG5103 Policy Analysis

APG5104 Public Sector Reform

APG5129 Evaluation

Michael Mintrom is a Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Monash Master of Public Policy degree. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and an MA(Hons) in Economics and a BA in English Literature from the University of Canterbury. His award-winning research on policy entrepreneurship has been highly influential. Throughout his career, Michael has advanced knowledge of effective policy development, how policies can have strong, positive impacts, and how academic research can better inform practice. His models of strategic policy development have had significant impact across various areas of government activity, nationally and internationally. He has considerable experience in strategic advising and leading program reviews.

In recognition of his scholarship, Michael has received both the Miriam K. Mills award and the Theodore J. Lowi prize from the US Policy Studies Association. He has also served as the elected President of the Public Policy section of the American Political Science Association and as the Chair of the Comparative Public Policy section of the International Political Science Association.

Michael is an editor of the Australian Journal of Political Science and serves on the editorial boards of leading public policy and public administration journals. 

Michael is a member of the Australian Research Council's College of Experts. His current ARC-funded discovery projects explore the role of change agents in driving sustainability transitions and policy design for robots in public spaces.

Prior to his present activities, Michael was Professor of Public Sector Management, seconded from Monash University to the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG), where he served as Monash Chair and Academic Director of the acclaimed Executive Master of Public Administration degree. He retains this connection as an ANZSOG Fellow.

Michael began his career as an economist and budget analyst in the New Zealand Treasury. He has been a tenured associate professor at Michigan State University and the University of Auckland, a visiting professor at the University of Southern California, a visiting fellow at the Australian National University, a US National Academy of Education / Spencer Foundation post-doctoral fellow and a visiting fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

As well as having published over 100 book chapters and articles in peer reviewed journals, Michael is the author of Advancing Human Rights (Monash University Publishing, 2022), Policy Entrepreneurs and Dynamic Change (Cambridge University Press, 2019), Public Policy: Investing for a Better World (Oxford University Press, 2019), Contemporary Policy Analysis (Oxford University Press, 2012), People Skills for Policy Analysts (Georgetown University Press, 2003), and Policy Entrepreneurs and School Choice (Georgetown University Press, 2000). He is co-editor of Policy Entrepreneurship: An Asian Perspective (Routledge 2021), Successful Public Policy: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand (ANU Press, 2019) and Political Leadership in New Zealand (Auckland University Press, 2006) and co-author of Public Policy and Universities: The Interplay of Knowledge and Power (Cambridge University Press, 2022), Public Entrepreneurs: Agents for Change in American Government (Princeton University Press, 1995) and Deregulating Freight Transportation (American Enterprise Institute, 1995).

For more detail on his publication record, please visit Michael's Google Scholar page.