Keith Dowding

Keith Martin Dowding (born 6 May 1960)[1] is Professor of Political Science in Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia arriving from the London School of Economics, UK in 2007. He has published widely in the fields of public choice, public administration, public policy, British politics, comparative politics, urban political economy, positive political theory and normative political philosophy. His work is informed by social and rational choice theories. He edited the Journal of Theoretical Politics (Sage) from 1996 to 2012.

For the Australian Presbyterian minister and Labor activist, see Keith Dowding (activist).

Keith Dowding
Keith Dowding
Born
Keith Martin Dowding

(1960-05-06) 6 May 1960
NationalityBritish
InstitutionAustralian National University, Canberra, Australia
FieldPolitical science
Alma materNuffield College, Oxford University

Early life

Dowding obtained his BA in Philosophy and Politics from Keele University in 1982, and a DPhil from Nuffield College, Oxford University in 1987.[2]

Introduction to works

Keith Dowding is unusual in that he has influentially written in both political philosophy and mainstream empirical political science. Dowding is best known for his work on 'power', applying insights from formal analysis to central debates on the nature of power and structure of power in society. Expanding on Brian Barry's concept of 'luck' (getting what you want without trying) he argues that some groups of people are 'systematically lucky' in that they are advantaged because of the way society is structured. Such people are not powerful in the sense they have resources that they could use that other groups do not (though they might have this power 'as well') but rather systematically lucky in that they tend to get what they want without having to do anything. Alternatively, other groups are systematically unlucky. This argument has caused great controversy with critics including Brian Barry, Steven Lukes, Peter Morriss and more recently Andrew Hindmoor.

Dowding has also worked extensively on the Tiebout model of individuals moving location to get the local services they require, showing that such moving does occur in the UK though only to a small extent, and that people tend to move 'to' areas for service reasons, but do not decide to leave 'from' areas for those reasons. He has extended this work into examining Albert Hirschman's 'Exit, Voice and Loyalty' model and has a forthcoming Cambridge University Press book Exits, Voices and Social Investment co-authored with long-time collaborator Peter John extending and applying Hirschman's model to citizen satisfaction with government services.

Dowding also considered the theory of presidentialisation of British politics in his 2012 article, “The Prime Ministerialization of the British Prime Minister”.[3] The article challenges Michael Foley’s theory that British politics is becoming increasingly similar to that of a presidential system. Dowding instead suggests that the British prime minister is gaining power, but only enhancing the responsibilities that he already possesses rather than adopting new powers that are more closely attributed to the United States’ President.

More recently his work has examined why UK cabinet ministers resign based on a large dataset of all UK ministerial resignations and non-resignations, and compiled another on Australia. Following his lead similar datasets are being compiled by scholars all round the world for intensive comparative analysis.

Recent activity

Dowding left LSE and joined the political science programme in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University (ANU) as a Research Professor of Political Science in July 2007 moving to the School of Politics and International Relations when the Arts Faculty coalesced with the Research School. He is the Chair of a network of scholars Selection and De-selection of Political Elites (SEDEPE) who are interested in the career paths of political elites http://sedepe.net/.

The Careers of Cabinet Ministers

This project comes under the rubric of SEDEPE. Dowding’s work so far has largely been concerned with ministers in the British Cabinet and thus far largely concerned with their resignations. But now he is working to extend this work into the careers of ministers more broadly, and to extend its scope beyond the UK most notably into ministers in the Australian states and Commonwealth government. Publications from this project include the following:

  • Dowding, Keith; Kang, Won-Taek (Autumn 1998). "Ministerial resignations 1945–97". Public Administration. Wiley. 76 (3): 411–429. doi:10.1111/1467-9299.00109.
  • Dowding, Keith; Dewan, Torun (January 2005). "The corrective effect of ministerial resignations on government popularity". American Journal of Political Science. Wiley. 49 (1): 46–56. doi:10.1111/j.0092-5853.2005.00109.x.
  • Dowding, Keith; Berlinski, Samuel; Dewan, Torun (April 2007). "The length of ministerial tenure in the United Kingdom, 1945–97". British Journal of Political Science. Cambridge Journals. 37 (2): 245–262. doi:10.1017/S0007123407000129.
  • Dowding, Keith; Dumont, Patrick (2009). The selection of ministers in Europe: hiring and firing. London New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-43081-4.
  • Dowding, Keith; Berlinski, Samuel; Dewan, Torun (April 2010). "The impact of individual and collective performance on ministerial tenure". The Journal of Politics. Cambridge Journals. 72 (2): 559–571. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.516.9550. doi:10.1017/S0022381609990843. S2CID 53335942.
  • Dowding, Keith; McLeay, Elizabeth (2011), "The firing line: when and why do prime ministers fire ministerial colleagues?", in 't Hart, Paul; Uhr, John (eds.), How power changes hands: transition and succession in government, Understanding Governance, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 157–173, ISBN 978-0-230-24296-8.
  • Dowding, Keith; Berlinski, Samuel; Dewan, Torun (2012). Accounting for ministers: scandal and survival in British government, 1945–2007. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-51972-4.
  • Dowding, Keith; Dumont, Patrick (2015). The Selection of Ministers Around the World. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-63346-8; ISBN 978-1-138-23819-0.
  • Dowding, Keith; Dumont, Patrick (2012). Ministerial Careers and Accountability in the Australian Commonwealth Government. Canberra: ANU Press. ISBN 978-1-922-14400-3.

Analytical Account of Freedom and Rights

This is a joint work in collaboration with Martin van Hees. The object is to complete a book on the measurement of freedom and rights. Publications from this project include the following:

Reprinted in Matravers, Matt; Meyer, Lukas (2011). Democracy, equality, and justice. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-59292-5.
  • Dowding, Keith (August 2011). "Republican freedom, rights, and the coalition problem". Politics, Philosophy & Economics. Sage. 10 (3): 301–322. doi:10.1177/1470594X10388380. S2CID 155062363.

Work on Amartya Sen

Dowding is fascinated by empirical measurement of freedom and rights. He has worked as part of a team led by Paul Anand, Open University, UK. They have been empirically examining Amartya Sen's capability approach through survey data ('Capabilities and Well-Being: Operationalizing the Capabilities Framework'). This research was supported by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Board. Currently he is writing a book on the works of Amartya Sen which is expected to be published soon.

  • Dowding, Keith (2009), "What is welfare and how might it be measured?", in Kincaid, Harold; Ross, Don (eds.), The Oxford handbook of philosophy of economics, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 511–539, ISBN 978-0-19-518925-4

Policy Agendas in Australia

With Aaron Martin (Melbourne University) Dowding worked on the Australian franchise of the Policy Agendas and Comparative Agenda Project https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/government/news/feature-archive/the-policy-agendas-project.php. His interest in methodology and explanation has led to a reflection on precisely what is being measured in these projects, as discussed in his Journal of Public Policy articles and opening chapters on the Policy Agendas in Australia book.

  • Dowding, Keith; Martin, Aaron (2016). Policy Agendas in Australia. London: Palgrave. ISBN 978-3-319-40804-0
  • Dowding, Keith; Hiindmoor, Andrew; Martin, Aaron (2016). "The Comparative Policy Agendas Project: Theory, Measurement, and Findings". Journal of Public Policy. 36 (1): 3–25. doi:10.1017/S0143814X15000124.

Publications

Books
  • Dowding, Keith M. (1991). Rational choice and political power. Aldershot, Hampshire, England Brookfield, Vermont, USA: Edward Elgar. ISBN 978-1-85278-335-8.
  • Dowding, Keith (1995). The civil service. London New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-07568-8.
  • Dowding, Keith; King, Desmond (1995). Preferences, institutions, and rational choice. Oxford New York: Clarendon Press Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-827895-5.
  • Dowding, Keith (1996). Power. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press (series: Concepts in the Social Sciences). ISBN 978-0-8166-2940-4.
  • Dowding, Keith; Margetts, Helen; Hughes, James (2001). Challenges to democracy: ideas, involvement, and institutions. The Political Studies Association Yearbook 2000. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire New York: Palgrave. ISBN 978-0-333-78982-7.
  • Dowding, Keith; de Wispelaere, Jurgen; White, Stuart (2003). The ethics of stakeholding. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-0580-2.
  • Dowding, Keith; Pateman, Carole; Goodin, Robert E. (2004). Justice and democracy: essays for Brian Barry. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83695-1.
  • Dowding, Keith; Dumont, Patrick (2009). The selection of ministers in Europe: hiring and firing. London, New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-43081-4.
  • Dowding, Keith; Dewan, Torun; Shepsle, Kenneth A. (2009). Rational choice politics (4 volume set). London: Sage Library of Political Science. ISBN 978-1-4129-4502-8.
Volume I: Social choice, equilibrium and electoral systems
Volume II: Voting, elections and pressure politics
Volume III: Legislatures
Volume IV: Bureaucracy, constitutional arrangements and the state
  • Dowding, Keith (2011). Encyclopedia of power. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4129-2748-2.
  • Dowding, Keith; Berlinski, Samuel; Dewan, Torun (2012). Accounting for ministers: scandal and survival in British government, 1945–2007. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-51972-4.
  • Dowding, Keith (2016). The Philosophy and Methods of Political Science. London: Palgrave. ISBN 978-0-333-78694-9.
  • Dowding, Keith (2017). Power, Luck and Freedom: Collected Essays. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-526-10728-2.
  • Dowding, Keith; Martin, Aaaron (2017). Policy Agendas in Australia. London: Palgrave. ISBN 978-3-319-40804-0.
  • Dowding, Keith (2020). Its the Government, Stupid: How Governments blame citizens for their own policies. Bristol: Bristol University Press. ISBN 978-1-5292-0639-5.

Chapters in books
  • Dowding, Keith (1992), "Unit 22: running the civil service", in Cochrane, Allan (ed.), Running the country, units 20-25, case studies: 3, Milton Keynes: Open University, pp. 89–120, ISBN 978-0-7492-0069-5.
  • Dowding, Keith (1993), "Government at the centre", in Dunleavy, Patrick; Gamble, Andrew; Holliday, Ian; et al. (eds.), Developments in British politics 4, New York: St. Martin's Press, pp. 175–193, ISBN 978-0-312-10087-2.
  • Dowding, Keith (1993), "Managing the civil service", in Thompson, Grahame; Maidment, Richard A. (eds.), Managing the UK: an introduction to its political economy and public policy, London: Sage, pp. 236–257, ISBN 978-0-8039-8851-4.
  • Dowding, Keith (1994), "Institutional persistence and change at the core of British government", in Kastendiek, Hans; Stinshoff, Richard (eds.), Changing conceptions of constitutional government: developments in British politics and the constitutional debate since the 1960s, Bochum: Universitätsverlag Brockmeyer, pp. 95–113, ISBN 978-3-8196-0244-3.
  • Dowding, Keith (1994), "Policy networks: don't take a good idea too far", in Dunleavy, Patrick; Stanyer, Jeffrey (eds.), Contemporary political studies, 1994, 1, Belfast: Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, ISBN 978-0-9523150-0-1.
  • Dowding, Keith (1994), "Rational mobilization", in Dunleavy, Patrick; Stanyer, Jeffrey (eds.), Contemporary political studies, 1994, 2, Belfast: Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, ISBN 978-0-9523150-1-8.
  • Dowding, Keith (1995), "Introduction", in Dowding, Keith; King, Desmond (eds.), Preferences, institutions, and rational choice, Oxford New York: Clarendon Press Oxford University Press, pp. 1–19, ISBN 978-0-19-827895-5.
  • Dowding, Keith (1995), "Interpreting formal coalition theory", in Dowding, Keith; King, Desmond (eds.), Preferences, institutions, and rational choice, Oxford New York: Clarendon Press Oxford University Press, pp. 43–59, ISBN 978-0-19-827895-5.
  • Dowding, Keith (1996), "Public choice and local governance", in Stoker, Gerry; King, Desmond (eds.), Rethinking local democracy, Government Beyond the Centre, Basingstoke, England: Macmillan In association with the Economic & Social Research Council Local Programme, pp. 91–116, ISBN 978-0-333-63853-8.
  • Dowding, Keith; Dunleavy, Patrick (1996), "Production, disursement and consumption: the modes and modalities of goods and services", in Edgell, Stephen; Hetherington, Kevin; Warde, Alan (eds.), Consumption matters: the production and experience of consumption, Oxford, England Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell, pp. 36–65, ISBN 978-0-631-20350-6.
  • Dowding, Keith (1998), "Secession and isolation", in Lehning, Percy B. (ed.), Theories of secession, London New York: Routledge, pp. 71–91, ISBN 978-0-415-17192-2.
  • Dowding, Keith; Kang, Won-Taek (Autumn 1998). "Ministerial resignations 1945–97". Public Administration. Wiley. 76 (3): 411–429. doi:10.1111/1467-9299.00109.
  • Dowding, Keith (2000), "Model or metaphor? A critical review of the policy network approach", in Rhodes, R. A. W. (ed.), The International Library of Politics and Comparative Government: United Kingdom, 1, Aldershot, Hants, England: Brookfield, Vermont Ashgate/Dartmouth, pp. 173–195, ISBN 978-1-84014-045-3.
  • Dowding, Keith (2000), "Model or metaphor? A critical review of the policy network approach", in Dunleavy, Patrick; Kelly, Paul; Moran, Michael (eds.), British political science: fifty years of political studies, Oxford: Political Studies Association Blackwell, pp. 196–213, ISBN 978-0-631-22412-9.
This chapter is an abridged version of: Dowding, Keith (August 1995). "Model or metaphor? A critical review of the policy network approach". Political Studies. Wiley. 43 (s1): 136–158. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9248.1995.tb01705.x. S2CID 144525662.
  • Dowding, Keith; Dunleavy, Patrick; King, Desmond (2000), "Understanding urban governance: the contribution of rational choice", in Stoker, Gerry (ed.), The new politics of British local governance, New York: St. Martin's Press, pp. 91–116, ISBN 978-0-333-72818-5.
  • Dowding, Keith; Margetts, Helen; Hughes, James (2001), "Introduction", in Dowding, Keith; Margetts, Helen; Hughes, James (eds.), Challenges to democracy: ideas, involvement, and institutions, The Political Studies Association Yearbook 2000, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire New York: Palgrave, pp. xi–xvii, ISBN 978-0-333-78982-7. Pdf.
  • Dowding, Keith (2002), "Model or metaphor? A critical review of the policy network approach", in Scott, John (ed.), Social networks: critical concepts in sociology volume 4 – applications: political protest and policy networks, London New York: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-25111-2.
  • Dowding, Keith (2002), "Rational choice and institutional change: an overview of current theories", in Steunenberg, Bernard (ed.), Widening the European Union: the politics of institutional change and reform, London New York: Routledge, pp. 21–38, ISBN 978-0-415-26835-6.
  • Dowding, Keith (2003), "The civil service", in Hollowell, Jonathan (ed.), Britain since 1945, Making Contemporary Britain, Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, pp. 179–193, ISBN 978-0-631-20968-3.
  • Dowding, Keith (2003), "Rational choice and trust", in King, Preston (ed.), Trusting in reason: Martin Hollis and the philosophy of social action, London Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass Publishers, pp. 205–218, ISBN 978-0-7146-8400-0.
This chapter is a reprint of: Dowding, Keith (2001). "Rational choice and trust". Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. Taylor and Francis. 4 (4): 207–220. doi:10.1080/13698230108403372. S2CID 144424779.
  • Dowding, Keith; de Wispelaere, Jurgen; White, Stuart (2003), "Stakeholding – a new paradigm in social policy", in Dowding, Keith; de Wispelaere, Jurgen; White, Stuart (eds.), The ethics of stakeholding, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1–28, ISBN 978-1-4039-0580-2.
  • Dowding, Keith; Pateman, Carole; Goodin, Robert E. (2004), "Introduction: between justice and democracy", in Dowding, Keith; Pateman, Carole; Goodin, Robert E. (eds.), Justice and democracy: essays for Brian Barry, Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–24, ISBN 978-0-521-83695-1.
  • Dowding, Keith (2004), "Are democratic and just institutions the same?", in Dowding, Keith; Pateman, Carole; Goodin, Robert E. (eds.), Justice and democracy: essays for Brian Barry, Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 25–39, ISBN 978-0-521-83695-1.
  • Dowding, Keith (2004), "Rational choice approaches to analyzing power", in Nash, Kate; Scott, Alan (eds.), The Blackwell companion to political sociology (2nd ed.), Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, pp. 29–39, ISBN 978-1-4051-2265-8.
  • Dowding, Keith; McLeay, Elizabeth (2011), "The firing line: when and why do prime ministers fire ministerial colleagues?", in 't Hart, Paul; Uhr, John (eds.), How power changes hands: transition and succession in government, Understanding Governance, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 157–173, ISBN 978-0-230-24296-8.
  • Dowding, Keith (2011), Matravers, Matt; Meyer, Lukas (eds.), Democracy, equality, and justice, London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-59292-5.

Journal articles
This article was a response to: Barry, Brian (June 2002). "Capitalists rule ok? Some puzzles about power". Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Sage. 1 (2): 155–184. doi:10.1177/1470594X02001002001. S2CID 154329176.
Brian Barry replied to Dowding's article with this further article: Barry, Brian (October 2003). "Capitalists rule. OK? A commentary on Keith Dowding". Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Sage. 2 (3): 323–341. doi:10.1177/1470594X030023003. S2CID 154725342.
  • Dowding, Keith; Mergoupis, Thanos (November 2003). "Fragmentation, fiscal mobility, and efficiency". The Journal of Politics. Cambridge Journals. 65 (4): 1190–1207. doi:10.1111/1468-2508.t01-1-00132.
  • Dowding, Keith (January 2004). "Analysing bureau-shaping models: comments on Marsh, Smith and Richards". British Journal of Political Science. Cambridge Journals. 34 (1): 183–189. doi:10.1017/S0007123403250390.
This article was a response to: Marsh, David; Smith, Martin John; Richards, David (July 2000). "Bureaucrats, politicians and reform in Whitehall: analysing the bureau-shaping model" (PDF). British Journal of Political Science. Cambridge Journals. 30 (3): 461–482. doi:10.1017/s0007123400000193.
This article was a response to: Parsons, Stephen (May 2006). "The rationality of voting: a response to Dowding". The British Journal of Politics & International Relations. Wiley. 8 (2): 295–298. doi:10.1111/j.1467-856X.2006.00215.x. S2CID 153550628.
Parsons article was a response to this original article: Dowding, Keith (August 2005). "Is it rational to vote? Five types of answer and a suggestion". The British Journal of Politics & International Relations. Wiley. 7 (3): 442–459. doi:10.1111/j.1467-856X.2005.00188.x. S2CID 145382710.
This article was a response to: Kay, Adrian; Marsh, Alex (June 2007). "The methodology of the public choice research programme: the case of "voting with feet"". New Political Economy. Taylor and Francis. 12 (2): 167–183. doi:10.1080/13563460701302943. S2CID 154475373.
Kay and Marsh replied to Dowding's article with this further article: Kay, Adrian; Marsh, Alex (September 2008). "On the tenacity of tiebout: a response to Dowding". New Political Economy. Taylor and Francis. 13 (3): 349–355. doi:10.1080/13563460802302636. S2CID 154845378.
  • This article was a response to: Ian, Carter; Kramer, Matthew H. (March 2008). "How changes in one's preferences can affect one's freedom (and how they cannot): a reply to Dowding and van Hees". Economics and Philosophy. Cambridge Journals. 24 (1): 81–96. doi:10.1017/S0266267108001685.

References
  1. "Dowding, Keith M." Library of Congress. Retrieved 23 September 2014. data sheet (Dowding, Keith Martin; b. 05-06-1960)
  2. "Professor Keith Dowding". Australian National University. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  3. Dowding, Keith (1 July 2013). "The Prime Ministerialisation of the British Prime Minister". Parliamentary Affairs. 66 (3): 617–635. doi:10.1093/pa/gss007. ISSN 0031-2290.
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