Dr Martin Hansen
Reader - Politics

Research area(s)

• Parliaments
• Political parties
• Public policy
• Public opinion

Research Interests

My research examines political institutions, political behaviour and public policy, primarily through quantitative and comparative methods. A central strand of my work focuses on parliaments, governments and political parties, including legislative behaviour, committee assignments, roll-call voting, ministerial turnover, party competition and electoral reform. This work contributes to comparative political science by analysing how institutional rules, party systems and parliamentary organisation shape representation, decision-making and political outcomes.

A second strand of my research focuses on public attitudes towards institutions, public services and contested policy questions. Recent projects examine trust in healthcare, policing, science, public service news, academic freedom and public administration. This work often uses survey data to understand how ideology, social identity, political trust, risk perceptions and service experiences influence citizens’ evaluations of institutions and policy choices. Currently, I also explore how public attitudes towards artificial intelligence in public administration and democratic decision-making, including comparative work on the United Kingdom and Japan. This reflects a broader interest in how citizens respond to changes in governance, expertise and institutional authority, particularly when established public institutions face new technological, social and political pressures.

Across these areas, my research is united by a concern with how institutions work in practice, how citizens evaluate them, and how political and administrative systems adapt to changing public expectations. I am especially interested in projects that combine rigorous empirical analysis with questions of democratic accountability, institutional design and public trust.