Lynn Bennie

I joined the Department as Lecturer in Politics in 1996 and am now a Reader in Politics. I was previously a Politics Lecturer at what was then the University of Paisley, I have a BA and PhD in Politics from the University of Strathclyde.

My research interests span the areas of elections and political parties, political participation and movement politics. My recent publications include work on the SNP, how the UK Labour party has adapted to devolution, and the membership of political parties.  With ESRC funding, and as Principal Investigator, I have been researching the short and long-term consequences of the surge in party membership amongst pro-independence parties following the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence.  Co-investigators were Professor James Mitchell (Edinburgh) and Dr Rob Johns (Essex).  The book 'Surges in Party Membership: The SNP and Scottish Greens After the 2014 Referendendum' is in press, published by Routledge.  My most recent project is 'Defenders of Local Democracy', funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. With my colleague Malcolm Harvey, the project examines the roles and experiences of local councillors.  

I contribure lectures on representation and democraccy to our first year course PI1018 Introduction to Politics and International Relations: Democracy and Governance, and I regulalry coordinate the course.  I contribute to PI2009, Ideas and Ideologies in Politics and International Relations and the inter-disciplinary Sixth Centrury course SX1011 Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunity.  I am convenor of the honours course PI3562 Political Parties in Britain.  I was programme convenor of a new MSc in Political Activism and Campaigning, launched in September 2021.  The programme was paused but it will hopefully run again soon.

I supervise dissertations on elections, political behaviour, political parties, green politics and movement politics.