Paul Cairney

@merylkenny.bsky.social I may be in the midst of the world's biggest Reply-All conversation.

New report by the Constitution [etc] Committee of the Scottish Parliament: digitalpublications.parliament.scot/Committees/R...

Both the report and evidence base (see www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-...) are valuable resources in the debate about democratic pathways to an independence referendum.

<em>Public Administration Review</em> | ASPA Journal | Wiley Online Library Public services, public servants, and the study of Public Administration are operating in a context of global turbulence. Our review of the state of the discipline suggests that a core strength of Br...

Check out the latest article from the Positive Public Policy (PoPP) Gang.

It explores the chequered history of British public administration and explores the potential for a positive future.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

@paulcairney.bsky.social @ianelliott.bsky.social @wiley.com

Here’s my new Substack post about the value of being curious about new fields and literatures.

open.substack.com/pub/davebrad...

<em>Public Administration Review</em> | ASPA Journal | Wiley Online Library Public services, public servants, and the study of Public Administration are operating in a context of global turbulence. Our review of the state of the discipline suggests that a core strength of Br...

A Chequered History but Positive Future for British Public Administration

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The number of ginger people in senior positions in the UK government is getting perilously low.

What Does Policy Success Look Like? Top-Down and Bottom-Up Perspectives The second in our PoPP group’s series of blog posts reflecting on the connections between established political science/ policy theory insights and a renewed focus on learning from succes…

What Does Policy Success Look Like? Top-Down and Bottom-Up Perspectives

paulcairney.wordpress.com/2026/02/05/w...

Peer review hot take:

I was in a discussion about how everyone hates when you get diametrically opposed advice on an R&R, and I am here to tell you that I *love* when I get conflicting R&R advice. The disagreement is all the permission you need to decide exactly what you want to do and just do that

working with good coauthors be like

Delivering change after the UK covid inquiry
doi.org/10.1136/bmj....

David Squires on … Amorim and Maresca being thrown overboard in power struggles Our cartoonist on a typically sedate start to 2026 at two of the Premier League’s biggest ‘projects’

For fans of 'Captain, it's Wednesday' www.theguardian.com/football/pic...

Senior Research Officer (ARISE) at University of Essex Explore an exciting academic career as a Senior Research Officer (ARISE). Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.

Looking for a postdoc to collect and analyse policy network data in coastal communities in the east of England as part of the £3m ARISE project. Apply until 1 Feb. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPZ781/ #sna #networkanalysis #acjobs #polisky #polisci #publicpolicy #policyanalysis #netsci #ergm #network #postdoc

The other side of chaos COVID-19, federal spending, and local government volatility We examine the influence of COVID-19 and federal responses to it on budget dynamics of local governments in the US. While it is commonly and implicitly assumed that budgetary difficulty primarily r...

Its year's end, and the @jeppjournal.bsky.social has been kind enough to fill our stockings with some FREE, Open Access articles until Dec 31st. One is dear to my heart. A 🧵 on fiscal federalism and local government fiscal policy. 🏛️ 🌐
doi.org/10.1080/1350...

A renewed vision for FORTH2O This very long blog post describes new developments in the FORTH2O Policy Innovation Partnership (a shorter version will appear on the FORTH2O website). A change in our leadership team, coupled wit…

Here is a longer (better) explanation of what the FORTH2O partnership does by its principal investigator @paulcairney.bsky.social paulcairney.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/a...

Glad that the younger generation can finally experience being gubbed by Brazil in a world cup.

Thanks Julia. Even the thought of one person reading it cheered me up!

How should policy actors respond to buzzwords? Three ways to deal with policy ambiguity - Policy Sciences Policy Sciences -

How should policy actors respond to buzzwords? Three ways to deal with policy ambiguity

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Painting at QUB, looks like the 4th Estate/Volpedo

The first deadline is 18th November (tomorrow). The deadline for research fellows is 2nd December (not tomorrow).

You will have the continuous opportunity to explain the meaning of FORTH2O whenever people don't see the logo: the Forth (Water Basin and surrounding area) is the 'place' in which we situate a 'place based approach', and the H precedes the number 2 and letter O to describe water. It is that simple.

FORTH2O Policy Innovation Partnership A ground-breaking Partnership in the Forth Water Basin offering a range of services to support innovation through collaboration.

Website for the project
forth2o.ac.uk

A renewed vision for FORTH2O This very long blog post describes new developments in the FORTH2O Policy Innovation Partnership (a shorter version will appear on the FORTH2O website). A change in our leadership team, coupled wit…

Background on the project
paulcairney.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/a...

Research Fellows
www.stir.ac.uk/about/work-a...

Research Partnership Manager
www.stir.ac.uk/about/work-a...

We are recruiting five Postdoctoral Research Fellows and one Research Partnership Manager for the University of Stirling FORTH2O project These posts will help to deliver key tasks for the FORTH2O Policy Innovation Partnership at the University of Stirling. For a thorough description of the project and its progress, please see: A ren…

We are recruiting five Postdoctoral Research Fellows and one Research Partnership Manager for the University of Stirling FORTH2O project

paulcairney.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/w...

We are recruiting five Postdoctoral Research Fellows and one Research Partnership Manager for the University of Stirling FORTH2O project These posts will help to deliver key tasks for the FORTH2O Policy Innovation Partnership at the University of Stirling. For a thorough description of the project and its progress, please see: A ren…

We are recruiting five Postdoctoral Research Fellows and one Research Partnership Manager for the University of Stirling FORTH2O project
paulcairney.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/w...

Why don’t governments learn, and what can we do about it? The first in our PoPP group’s series of blog posts reflecting on the connections between established political science/ policy theory insights and a renewed focus on learning from success. Learning…

Why don't governments learn, and what can we do about it?
paulcairney.wordpress.com/2025/11/06/w...

So you want to be a systems leader? Systems leaders are trusted actors who help many people to collaborate to address wicked policy problems. These policy problems resist simple solutions by a few powerful actors in one center of gov...

Now published in the latest Policy Design and Practice:

So you want to be a systems leader?

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

It's an article about systems leadership. You don't need to want to be a systems leader to read it.