Research Fellow: Katharine Dommett

Dr Katharine Dommett, BA (Hons), MA (Distinction), PhD (University of Sheffield)

Research Fellow

Telephone: +44 (0)114 222 1708
Room: 108b

Profile

Katharine joined the Department in August 2012 as a Research Fellow on the ESRC funded project ‘Shrinking the State’. She completed her doctorate in 2012 which explored ideology, processes of ideological change and modernisation in relation to contemporary political parties (University of Sheffield). Katharine obtained her BA (Hons) (2008) and MA in Research Methods with distinction (2009) at Sheffield.

Katharine’s research interests focus primarily upon the intersection between ideas, institutions and actors. These themes have inspired an interest in ideology, the role of ideas in contemporary politics, political rhetoric and the interaction between ideas and institutions. Katharine also has a keen interest in themes of democratic disengagement and participation. She has pursued this interest by conducting knowledge exchange work with Sheffield City Council and working with the Hansard Society as part of Colin Hay and Gerry Stoker’s ESRC ‘Anti-politics’ project.

Current Research

Katharine is currently working on an ESRC-funded project entitled ‘Shrinking the State: Reforming Arm's Length Bodies in an Age of Austerity'. This is a collaborative project between the University of Sheffield, the University of Birmingham and the University of Southern California. The project explores the current British Coalition Government’s attempt to reform arms’ length bodies, from multi-level and cross-national perspectives; and asks whether and to what extent reform of these ‘quangos’ will deliver the policy goal of a smaller, smarter, cheaper state.

Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures

November 2012: 'The Oratory of Boris Johnson' presented at the 'Conservative Orators from Baldwin to Cameron' Conference, University of Huddersfield.
September 2012: 'The Politics and Management of Public Expectations: Gaps, Vacuums and the 2012 Mayoral Referenda' presented at the 40 years of Policy & Politics Conference entitled 'Critical reflections and strategies for the future’, University of Bristol.
June 2012: ‘Ideology and the Coalition’, presented at the PSA Conservatives and Conservatism conference entitled ‘The Conservatives in Coalition Government: Principles, Policy and Power’, University of Hull.
April 2012: ‘Ideology in the Rhetoric of British Political Parties’, presented at Political Studies Association Annual Conference, Belfast.
August 2011: ‘Gap Analysis: Participatory Democracy, Public Expectations and Community Assemblies in Sheffield’ co-written with Matthew Flinders. Presented at 6th ECPR General Conference, Reykjavik, Iceland.
April 2011: ‘Reconceptualising Party Political Ideology’, presented at PSA Annual Conference, London.
June 2010: ‘Gap Analysis and Going to Extremes: Participatory Democracy, Public Expectations and Community Assemblies in Sheffield’, co-written with Matthew Flinders. Presented at the PSA Deliberative and Participatory Democracy in the UK Conference, Glasgow Caledonian University.

Professional activities and recognition

Katharine is a member of the Political Studies Association (PSA), the Conservatives and Conservatism PSA Subgroup and the Rhetoric and Politics Society of the UK.

Key Publications

(with Matthew Flinders) ‘Gap Analysis: Participatory Democracy, Public Expectations and Community Assemblies in Sheffield’ in Local Government Studies, forthcoming August 2013.