School of Government and International Affairs - Durham University

13/05/2026

In the post-teaching months of May and June, our staff members are busy marking, writing, and attending/organising exciting research events. ✨ There will be a couple of them happening across SGIA in the coming weeks. Here starting with the very first "Political Behaviour Workshop" at Durham University, organised by the Centre for Institutions and Political Behaviour (CIPB) at SGIA, which took place on Monday 11 May. 👏🏻
Scholars visiting from IE University, Michigan State University, ETH Zürich, LSE, and Università Bocconi attended the event. We had a great line-up of international and Durham-based scholars covering issues ranging from commercial governance and migration policy to public goods provision and bureaucratic responsiveness.

11/05/2026

🎉Congratulations to SGIA researchers David Caldwell, Gidon Cohen and Nick Vivyan on winning the Environmental Politics Article of the Year 2025! 🎉

Their award-winning paper is titled 'Long-run trends in partisan polarization of climate policy-relevant attitudes across countries’.

From the editorial team: "This paper makes an important contribution by showing how the U.S. compares with its cross-national peers and how patterns of polarization have changed over time. Drawing on four ISSP Environment modules from 1993 to 2020, the paper provides a valuable over-time assessment of public opinion and highlights the gradual erosion of consensus around climate politics. It is a timely, rigorous, and highly relevant study that [is expected to] quickly become an important reference in the field."

08/05/2026

30/04/2026

This afternoon we had the pleasure of hosting a talk by Ilias Alami on their award-winning book The Spectre of State Capitalism (co-authored with Adam Dixon). Thanks for a stimulating discussion! 📚👏🏻

01/04/2026

As a research-intensive department, our faculty members are at the forefront of their fields, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and shaping important debates. This is a little round-up of our colleagues' latest papers published in March. 📚💡

30/03/2026

From Pakistan’s bustling metropolitan life to a small city in the North East of England that is Durham, our undergraduate student Ilsa shares her journey of moving continents, finding her place at SGIA, and building a life far from home. A really thoughtful reflection on belonging, independence, and student life in Durham. Read her blog post via links in bio. ✨📖

25/03/2026

We are pleased to share that we have been ranked 79th in the world for Politics and International Studies in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject. 🎉✨
Being placed within the global top 100 highlights our continued commitment to high-quality research, thoughtful teaching, and meaningful engagement with the political issues shaping our world today. A huge thank you to our entire community for making this happen.

20/03/2026

Part III of our Public Policy students interview: advice for future students!

19/03/2026

Part II of our Public Policy students interview: sharing your favourite module!

17/03/2026

Meet our MSc Public Policy students!
This is the first of a three-part interview we did with our Public Policy students: why they chose Durham. More to follow.

16/03/2026

New book!
Anouk S. Rigterink (associate professor in comparative politics at SGIA) and Mareike Schomerus just published their new method textbook Research Design in Politics and International Relations (SAGE, 2026) 🎉📖

If you ever wondered about these....

“I just want to study [insert topic here]”

“But I have a literature/theory/methods section!” [even though it is completely disconnected from the rest of the assignment]

“Doing research is difficult, what am I doing wrong?”

“Can I really produce good research?”

This book could be for you!

https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/research-design-in-politics-and-international-relations/book288177