Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Robert Thomson is Professor of Political Science in the School of Social Sciences. He joined Monash in 2017, and previously held positions in the Netherlands (at the Universities of Groningen and Utrecht), Ireland (at Trinity College Dublin) and the United Kingdom (at the University of Strathclyde).
His research focuses on two broad areas of politics: international comparisons of democratic representation, and international governance. Robert and his colleagues are examining the conditions under which politicians keep and break the promises they make to voters when they enter government office. He also has ongoing research on the European Union and on international cooperation in climate change policy. He is author of Resolving Controversy in the European Union (Cambridge University Press), and a series of articles and book chapters on national, EU, and international politics.
Robert welcomes inquiries from prospective doctoral researchers, masters students and honours students. He advises students in a range of areas: democratic representation; national and international governance; and public policy. While all inquiries in these areas are welcome, there are specific opportunities for doctoral researchers in the following areas:
- Internationalisation and democracy. The PhD researcher will become part of a funded Australian Research Council Discovery Project. The project will investigate the impact of international political and economic integration on the quality of democratic representation in established democracies such as Australia, the US and the UK.
- The governance of sustainable energy access. See: https://www.monash.edu/memsi/initiatives/sustainable-energy-access
- Election campaign promises in Australia and other countries. The PhD researcher will become part of and make innovative contributions to the world’s largest comparative research program on campaign promises (The Comparative Party Pledges Project).
Network
Recent external collaboration on country level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots.
Projects
- 1 Active
MEC: Mixed methods for analysing what political parties promise to voters during election campaigns
Naurin, E., Thomson, R., Hovy, D., Jankin Mikhaylov, S., de Vreese, C. & Wängnerud, L.
1/01/20 → 31/12/22
Project: Research
Research Output
A Comparative Analysis of Pledge Fulfillment
Thomson, R., Naurin, E. & Royed, T., 2019, Party Mandates and Democracy: Making, Breaking, and Keeping Election Pledges in Twelve Countries. Naurin, E., Royed, T. & Thomson, R. (eds.). Ann Arbor MI USA: University of Michigan Press, p. 57-80 24 p. (New Comparative Politics).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
A Systematic Research Design for Studying the Fulfillment of Election Pledges
Royed, T., Naurin, E. & Thomson, R., 2019, Party Mandates and Democracy: Making, Breaking, and Keeping Election Pledges in Twelve Countries. Naurin, E., Royed, T. & Thomson, R. (eds.). Ann Arbor MI USA: University of Michigan Press, p. 23-38 15 p. (New Comparative Politics).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
Don’t cry for me Britannia: The resilience of the European Union to Brexit
Huhe, N., Naurin, D. & Thomson, R., 1 Jan 2019, (Accepted/In press) In : European Union Politics.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Incentives to comply: the impact of national governments’ and stakeholders’ preferences on compliance with EU laws
Thomson, R., Torenvlied, R. & Judge, A., 1 Jan 2019, (Accepted/In press) In : Journal of European Public Policy. 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Ireland
Thomson, R., Costello, R. & Love, E., 2019, Party Mandates and Democracy: Making, Breaking, and Keeping Election Pledges in Twelve Countries. Naurin, E., Royed, T. & Thomson, R. (eds.). Ann Arbor MI USA: University of Michigan Press, p. 189-204 16 p. (New Comparative Politics).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review