Daniel Skeffington is a PhD Candidate in the Department of War Studies. His research interests include the relationship between constitutional theory and political history with war and foreign affairs, Anglo-American foreign policy, and international law. He holds and MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics, and a BSc in Politics and International Relations from the University of Bath.

Daniel currently works as a Research Fellow at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, taking part in a multi-year comparative study by Professor Vanessa MacDonnell on the role that unwritten principles play in the constitutions of Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom. He is also co-authoring a monograph and journal articles with Professor Philippe Lagassé at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, focusing on the history of the war prerogative in Westminster democracies. Previously, Daniel was a researcher at the London School of Economics, where he co-authored a history of the School’s Department of Government, and a Research Fellow at the Constitution Society in London, working on the history and theory of the British constitution.

Thesis Title

In Defence of the Realm: International Law and the War Prerogative in Britain and the United States, 1956-2018. 

Research Interests

British political history; executive and prerogative power; constitutional history and political thought; 20^th/21^st century Anglo-American strategic thought; the history of warfare; the legislative oversight of foreign and defence policy, and civil-military relations; international law and the laws of war; international political thought; the history of Westminster states.

Supervisors

• Dr. Charlie Laderman
• Professor Lord Guglielmo Verdirame KC

Publications

• Skeffington, D. (2020), ‘The Concept of the Constitution in the Jurisprudence of Michael Oakeshott,’ LSE Law Review, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 1-31. Accessible at: LSE Law Review or HeinOnline
• Skeffington, D. (2022), ‘The Political Constitution. An Idea Worth Protecting?’ The Constitution Society. Accessible at: The Political Constitution: An Idea Worth Protecting?
• Skeffington, D. (2021), The Orator and the Conversationalist. From Laski to Oakeshott, 1921-1965, In: Schonhardt-Bailey, C. & Bannerman, G. (Eds.), Political Science at the LSE. A History of the Department of Government. pp.53-85, London: Ubiquity Press. Accessible at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2dt5m90