Academic Staff: Ian Bache

Professor Ian Bache, BA (Leeds), MA, PhD and MEd (Sheffield)

Professor of Politics

Telephone: +44 (0)114 222 1675
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 1717
Room: Elmfield G66
Email: i.bache@sheffield.ac.uk

Profile

Ian Bache joined the Department as Lecturer in 1999 and became Senior Lecturer in 2003, Reader in 2006 and Professor in 2009. He took his first degree in Politics and Parliamentary Studies at the University of Leeds and gained research experience working in the House of Commons, the US Congress and for a UK/EU public sector interest group before completing an MA in International Studies and PhD (on the Politics of EU Regional Policy) at the University of Sheffield. He completed a part-time MEd in Teaching and Learning at the University of Sheffield in 2004 and was given a Senate Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2008.
His research focuses mainly on issues of governance and public policy in Britain and the EU, generally engaging with the concepts of networks, Europeanisation and multi-level governance. He is currently conducting research on politics and the quality of life in Britain and the EU and on multi-level governance and carbon policy in transport in Britain. He is a member of the management group of the Centre for Wellbeing in Public Policy (CWIPP) at the University of Sheffield.

Teaching

I am currently the University’s Director of Learning and Teaching for Internationalisation. The purpose of this role is to develop and embed the University’s policy of seeking to place the understanding and ambition of staff and students in an international context. Our aims are to give our students the best opportunity of competing for jobs in the widest market possible (global employability) and to promote awareness of international issues and interconnectedness, whether economic, environmental, social etc. (global citizenship)

My main teaching commitments in the Department of Politics are a final year module on Politics and the Quality of Life and supervising PhD students. The module explores conceptual, empirical and policy-related aspects of quality of life. It examines competing definitions, understandings and measurements of quality of life and related notions, such as wellbeing. It includes consideration of established themes such as equality, poverty, social exclusion and sustainability.

I use a range of activities within seminars to appeal to different kinds of learning styles and to engage students from different backgrounds. This may involve small group work, debates and group posters. My year option modules have always been closely connected to my research interests and draw on unpublished papers and contemporary public documents. I am keen to promote independent and inquiry based learning and have undertaken research on the experience of students from different cultural backgrounds in this context.

I am co-author of a leading Oxford University Press textbook on Politics in the European Union, which has a number of distinctive pedagogic features both in the book and within the accompanying online resource centre, including an interactive map, interactive timeline, multiple-choice questions and a flashcard glossary.

In 2008 I was given a Senate Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The citations commented on my reflective approach to practice, my influence on the learning community and my leadership in teaching and learning.

Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures

Professor Bache’s most recent papers have been presented at the UACES Annual Conference at the University of Cambridge (September 2011) and the First International Conference on Wellbeing at Birmingham City University (July 2011). Both of these were papers explaining how quality of life issues have risen up the political agenda in different contexts. He was also an invited speaker at the Centre-Periphery Conference at York University (Toronto) in September 2011, where he gave a talk on multi-level governance.

Key Projects/Grants

• 2011: £7,700 from the University of Sheffield Knowledge Transfer Rapid Response Fund for work on The Politics and Policy of Wellbeing.
• 2010: £280,000 from the ESRC for research on ‘Multi-level Governance, Transport and Climate Change’ (with Matthew Flinders, Department of Politics, and Leeds, Glasgow and Napier Universities).
• 2007: £90,000 from the ESRC for research on ‘Multi-level Governance and Urban Politics: The Case of Sheffield’ (with John Henneberry, Town and Regional Planning and Philip Catney, Department of Politics).
• 2007: £300,000 from the ESRC for research on ‘Multi-level Governance in South East Europe’ (with Andrew Geddes, Charles Lees and Andrew Taylor, Department of Politics).

Professional activities and recognition

Professor Bache has undertaken research or consultancy for a number of external bodies including the British Council, European Commission, European Parliament and UK government bodies. Editorial board membership includes the Journal of European Integration, where he previously acted as Reviews Editor.

Current Research

Professor Bache’s two main areas of research are on politics and the quality of life and multi-level governance and carbon policy in transport. In addition, he has recently completed research on Cohesion Policy and Multi-level Governance in South East Europe, which was funded the ESRC and undertaken in collaboration with the South East European Centre, a collaboration of the University of Sheffield and City College Thessaloniki. This project built on earlier work on cohesion policy ('Europeanization and Multilevel Governance: Cohesion Policy in the European Union and Britain').

Key Publications

• Bache, I. and Andreou, G. (eds) (2011). Cohesion Policy and Multi-level Governance in South East Europe, Oxford: Routledge.
• Bache, I., George, S. and Bulmer, S. (2011) Politics in the European Union, 3rd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Bache, I (2008): Europeanization and Multi-level Governance: Cohesion Policy in the European Union and Britain, Lanham (US) and Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield.
• Bache, I. and Jordan, A. (eds.) (2006; 2008pbk): The Europeanization of British Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Bache I and Flinders M (eds.) (2004; 2005pbk): Multi-Level Governance, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Bache I (1998): The Politics of European Union Regional Policy: Multi-Level Governance or Flexible Gatekeeping?, Contemporary European Studies Series, Sheffield: UACES/Sheffield Academic Press.

Click here for Professor Bache's full list of publications.

PhD Supervision

Professor Bache has supervised eleven PhD students to completion as first supervisor and his current first supervision topics are: quality of life and transport policy and the Europeanisation of subnational entities in Turkey. He is particularly keen to build up his research supervision on quality of life and related topics.