Biography
Peter John was a Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University College London from 2011 until 2017. Previously he held appointments at the University of Manchester, Birkbeck, University of Southampton, and University of Keele. He has a DPhil from the University of Oxford and his first main job was as a Research Fellow at the Policy Studies Institute.
He became head of the School of Politics and Economics in July 2020.
Research
Peter John is known for his work on agenda-setting, local politics, behavioural interventions, and randomized controlled trials.
He is author of Analyzing Public Policy (2012), which reviews the main theories of public policy and the policy process. He has carried out empirical work on agenda-setting to find out why governments focus on particular policies, which is represented in the book, Policy Agendas in British Politics (Palgrave, 2013), co-authored with Anthony Bertelli, William Jennings, and Shaun Bevan. With Anthony Bertelli, he developed public policy investment as an approach to understanding decision-making, which was published as Public Policy Investment: Priority-Setting and Conditional Representation in British Statecraft (Oxford University Press, 2013).
He is interested in how best to involve citizens in public policy and management, often deploying behavioural interventions. He tests many of these interventions with randomized controlled trials. Some of these trials appeared in Nudge, Nudge, Think, Think: Experimenting with Ways to Change Civic Behaviour (Bloomsbury, 2011). Practical issues with the design of experiments are covered in Field Experiments in Political Science and Public Policy (Routledge, 2017).
Experiments are also used to examine the impact of social media and politics in Political Turbulence: How Social Media Shape Collective Action (Princeton University Press, 2015), with Helen Margetts, Scott Hale and Taha Yasseri.
A more general approach to the use of the tools of government to achieve policy change is contained in his Making Policy Work (Routledge, 2011). His current book, to be published in 2018, is a critical review of the use of behavioral public policies, called How Far to Nudge: Assessing Behavioural Public Policy (Edward Elgar).
Peter John has had a long interest in local politics and public management, again focusing on citizen choices. Such work culminated in his book with Keith Dowding, Exits, Voices and Social Investment: Citizens’ Reaction to Public Services, Cambridge University Press, 2012. He is currently working with Oliver James at the University of Exeter on a project testing exit and voice with experiments.
Teaching
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John, P., Kim, K. & Soto Tamayo, L., 13 Jan 2023, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Experimental Political Science. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1017/XPS.2023.3
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Cheng Matsuno, V., Foos, F., John, P. & Unan, A., 14 Dec 2022, (Accepted/In press) In: ELECTORAL STUDIES. p. 1 17 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/adr9g
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Leon-Ablan, G. & John, P., 18 Jul 2022, (Accepted/In press) In: Political Science Research and Methods. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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John, P. & Foos, F., 31 May 2022, In: Political studies review. 20, 2, p. 169-174 6 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299221075919
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John, P., Martin, A. & Mikołajczak, G., 11 Mar 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Regulation and Governance. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12460
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Hume, S., John, P., Sanders, M. & Stockdale, E., 27 Sep 2021, In: Journal of Behavioral Public Administration. 4, 2 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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John, P., Camara, C., Hale, S. & Margetts, H., 18 Sep 2021, In: PUBLIC OPINION QUARTERLY. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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John, P. & Richardson, L., Aug 2021, In: Evidence & Policy. 17, 3, p. 405-422 18 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1332/174426420X16000979778231
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John, P. & Banerjee, S., 16 Apr 2021, In: Behavioural Public Policy. p. 1-32 32 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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John, P., Sweeney, M., Sanders, M., Wright, H. & Makinson, L., Apr 2021, In: ELECTORAL STUDIES. 70, p. 1-14 14 p., 102277. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102277