Professor Christina Boswell
Details of Professor Christina Boswell's inaugural lecture.
Event details
Lecture title: Against ‘Interests’ in Political Science: Public Policy and Political Motivation
Date: Tuesday 21 May 2013
Venue: Auditorium Lecture Theatre, Business School
Lecture abstract
What factors influence politicians and officials in formulating public policy? Most political scientists rely on some notion of ‘interest’ to explain policy. My research over the past 15 years has tried to chip away at the supremacy of interest. I have challenged the deployment of the concept as a short-hand for describing reasons for action; and the presumed content of such interests, especially when it comes to understanding immigration and asylum policy.
But is there an alternative to the concept of interest in theories of policy? And what would an interest-free theory look like? I suggest that sociological and political theory accounts of legitimation can provide the basis both for a more plausible account of political motivation, and for explaining different types of policy response.
Lecture video
There is no video available for this inaugural lecture.