Staff Profile

Anthony R. Zito is Professor of European Public Policy at Newcastle University. Dr. Zito is currently Co-Director of the Jean Monnet Centre for Excellence at Newcastle University. His research has focused on governance, learning theory, networks, policy instruments, European integration and European Union decision-making. He has authored numerous journal articles and two monographs: Creating Environmental Policy in the European Union (2000) and Environmental Governance in Europe (2013, with R. Wurzel and A. Jordan). 

Roles and Responsibilities

• Co-Director, Jean Monnet Centre at Newcastle University
• Academic Leader of the Newcastle University - University of Pittsburgh collaboration
• GPS Global Lead, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology

Areas of expertise

• European public policy
• European Union politics and policy
• Environmental politics and policy

Qualifications

• PhD in Political Science, University of Pittsburgh
• MA in Political Science, University of Pittsburgh
• BA in Politics, Catholic University of America

Previous Positions

• Teaching Fellow, University of Pittsburgh

Memberships

• Political Studies Association
• The European Union Studies Association
• UACES

Languages

Read and speak German, read Dutch.

Google scholar: Click here.
ORCID: Click here.

Research Interests

The European Union (European Community), Domestic Environmental Politics and Policy-making, European Political Economy, European Public Policy and Policy-making, International Environmental Politics and Policy-making, International Political Economy, International Organisations.

Postgraduate Supervision

I have supervised 21 doctoral students to completion on  a range of subjects and geographic areas, including Europe but also Africa and Asia.  I have particular interest and expertise in the following areas: 

European Union politics and policy-making
Environmental politics and policy-making
Regional and international institutions
European state systems

If you wish further information on reading for a research degree in Politics please contact the Politics Postgraduate Research Director and Selector.

 Current Research Work

 Research Themes Projects

1. UK Energy Futures and Climate Change Resilience.  I am developing a new research team focused on examining the question of resilience for coastal communities in the Northeast of England.  The project takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying how industrial heritage and legacies interact with the issues and strategies of coping with the climate crisis.  This project has been supported by two grants, one an ERASMUS network grant, and the other a Joint NERC/ESRC grant in which I am a team member.

 2.  The changing nature of the state in the OECD context:       

• The Comparative Governance Project. I am developing a network of leading academic scholars to focus comparatively on the transformations of states and how states govern their society. Despite the intense interest in governance in law and social sciences, most scholarship does not generalise beyond a specific policy and country context. By bringing together internationally recognized scholars institutions with respected experts in public policy, this project develops a hugely original research agenda that transcends a particular geographic context. The goal of creating a systematic, comparative study of governance arrangements builds on my participation in a highly successful SSHRC funded collaborative project centred in Canada, which enabled me to co-publish two path-breaking articles on this topic in Public Administration in 2012 (see publication list)

• ‘Towards Smarter  Regulation? Changing Environmental Governance in Australia and Canada’.  In order to build empirical evidence for the multi-country, multi-policy sector analysis of OECD countries, I have received funding from the British Academy/Leverhulme Foundation to conduct field research in Australia and Canada.  I was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Melbourne to pursue this research. In 2022 I have co-authored a new book: Giliberto Capano, Anthony Zito, Federico Toth and Jeremy Rayner, Trajectories of Governance: how states have shaped critical policy sectors in the Neoliberal Age, Springer Palgrave, 2022.

3. The evolution of environmental governance and public policy:

• State of the art study of European Union Environmental Governance.  2019 Special issue in Environmental Politics and 2020 Special Symposium for Public Administration (see publication list).

• The Comparative Environment Agencies Project. A 2007 Leverhulme Research Fellowship has allowed me to do the foundational work for an ongoing comparative environmental agencies study. Environmental Agencies are at the critical juncture of how institutions and policies geared to past environmental problems must be developed to new objectives.  So far the project has undertaken research on the European Environment Agency, the Environment Agency for England and Wales, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The project has generated 4 refereed journal pieces so far, please see publications list. Agency project website http://research.ncl.ac.uk/ceag/
• New Environmental Policy Instruments. This research examines the degree to which the means the public sector, as well as the private sector, to govern over societal choices, have change.  I have co-authored a 2013 monograph:

Rüdiger Wurzel, Anthony Zito and Andrew Jordan,  Has Governance Eclipsed Governance? Patterns of Environmental Instrument Selection and Use in Four States and the EU (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2013).

4. The linkage between cultural heritage and public policy.  This research strand has two steams.

• Based on research started in the Horizon 2020 Grant COHERE led by Newcastle University (https://research.ncl.ac.uk/cohere/), I have been exploring how the European Union and Council of Europe have used policy tools such as European Heritage Labels to support European integration and the idea of a common cultural heritage.
• I have started an experimental project using creative arts to explore how communities come to terms with their industrial heritage and the impact of the transition to net zero carbon emissions. I have helped curate two are exhibits for this research effort: https://research.ncl.ac.uk/blythenergiesexhibit/

Selected Funding

September 2018-2023:   Co-Investigator and Newcastle Lead, Budget Holder. University of Pittsburgh, PI. Transatlantic Perspectives on Energy and Cities. Erasmus Programme –   Jean Monnet Activities PI Funds.

July 2018-2022:  Interdisciplinary Research Team Member. Richard Davies, PI. Project Title: Challenge 1: Assessing and Monitoring the UK Shale Gas Landscape (UKSGL).   NERC/ESRC. NERC Reference: NE/R017492/1.

April 2016-2019:  Co-Investigator. Chris Whitehead, PI. Project Title: Critical Heritages: performing and representing identities in Europe. EU Horizon 2020 grant worth 2.5 million euros over 3 years.

2007 Leverhulme Research Fellow. Project Title: ‘Comparing Environmental Agencies and Governance’.

Dr. Anthony Zito and his co-researchers Dr. Andrew Jordan and Dr.
Rudi Wurzel received ESRC funding for their ESRC Future
Governance Programme study of New Environmental Policy Instruments
in Europe. They have presented their findings to the European Union Commission officials as well as the Ministry officials and interested private sector actors in the four case countries: Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. This project received a grading of "outstanding" from the ESRC.

This project has led to the following selected publications (all co-authored):
 

            Rüdiger Wurzel, Anthony Zito and Andrew Jordan,  Has Governance Eclipsed Governance? Patterns of Environmental Instrument Selection and Use in Four States and the EU (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2013).

             Andrew Jordan, Rüdiger Wurzel and Anthony Zito, ‘Still the Century of ‘New’ Environmental Policy Instruments? Exploring Patterns of Innovation and Continuity’, Environmental Politics, 22, 1 (2013), 155-173.

              Andrew Jordan , Rüdiger Wurzel and Anthony Zito, ‘New Modes of Environmental Governance: Are 'New' Environmental Policy Instruments (NEPIs) Supplanting or Supplementing the Traditional Tools of Government?’ in Klaus Jacob, Frank Biermann, Per-Olof Busch and Peter Feindt (eds.) Politische Vierteljahresschrift, Special Issue 39 (2007), 283-298.

             Andrew Jordan, Rüdiger Wurzel and Anthony Zito, ‘The Rise of “New” Policy Instruments in Comparative Perspective: Has Governance Eclipsed Government?’ Political Studies. 53, 3 (2005), pp. 477-496. [reprinted in J. Roberts (ed.) Environmental Policy (Volume III).  Routledge: London. Ranked 18th in citations for all 57 volumes of Political Studies, (i.e. ranked 18th out of 3000 articles)].

             Rüdiger Wurzel, Andrew Jordan, Adarsh Varma and Anthony Zito,  ‘Das britische Emissions-handelssystem.’ Umweltwirtschaftsforum, 7, 3 (2003), pp. 9-14.

              Anthony Zito, Claudio M. Radaelli and Andrew Jordan, ‘“New” Policy Instruments in the European Union: Symposium Introduction.’ Public Administration. 81, 3 (2003), pp. 509-511.

             Andrew Jordan, Rüdiger Wurzel, Anthony Zito, and Lars Brückner ‘European Governance and the Transfer of “New” Environmental Policy Instruments in the European Union.” Public Administration. 81, 3 (2003), pp. 555-574.

             Andrew Jordan, Rüdiger Wurzel and Anthony Zito, ‘“New” Instruments of Environmental Governance: Patterns and Pathways of Change.” Environmental Politics 12, 1 (2003), pp. 3-24.

             Andrew Jordan, Rüdiger Wurzel and Anthony Zito, ‘“New” Environmental Policy Instruments: an Evolution or a Revolution in Environmental Policy?’ Environmental Politics 12, 1 (2003), pp. 201-224.

             Rüdiger Wurzel, Lars Brückner, Andrew Jordan, and Anthony Zito, ‘Struggling to Leave Behind a Highly Regulatory Past? “New” Environmental Policy Instruments in Austria.’  Environmental Politics 12, 1 (2003), pp. 51-72.

             Anthony Zito, Lars Brückner, Rüdiger Wurzel, and Andrew Jordan, ‘Instrument Innovation in an Environmental Lead State: “New” Environmental Policy Instruments in the Netherlands.’ Environmental Politics 12, 1 (2003), pp. 157-178.

             Rüdiger Wurzel, Andrew Jordan, Anthony Zito, and Lars Brückner, ‘From High Regulatory State to Social and Ecological Market Economy? “New” Environmental Policy Instruments in Germany.’ Environmental Politics 12, 1 (2003), pp.115-136.

             Andrew Jordan, Rüdiger Wurzel, Anthony Zito, and Lars Brückner, ‘Policy Innovation or ‘Muddling through’? “New” Environmental Policy Instruments in the United Kingdom.” Environmental Politics 12, 1 (2003), pp. 179-198.

Book Chapters

            Andrew Jordan, David Benson, Rüdiger Wurzel and Anthony Zito, ‘Policy Instruments in Practice,’ in John Dryzek, Richard Norgaard, and David Schosberg, eds., Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society, (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2011), pp. 536-549.        

            Andrew Jordan, David Benson, Rüdiger Wurzel and Anthony Zito, ‘Environmental Policy: Governing by Multiple Policy Instruments?’  In:  J.J Richardson, ed., Constructing a Policy State? Policy Dynamics in the EU. (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2012), pp. 104-124.

             Andrew Jordan, David Benson, Rüdiger Wurzel and Anthony Zito, ‘Governing with Multiple Policy Instruments?’  In:  A. Jordan and C. Adelle, eds., Environmental Policy in the EU: Actors, Institutions and Processes (Third Edition). (London: Earthscan, 2012), pp. 309-324.

             Andrew Jordan, Rüdiger Wurzel and Anthony Zito, ‘Policy Instrument Innovation in the European Union: a Realistic Model for International Environmental Governance,’ in Gerd Winter, ed., Multilevel Governance of Global Environmental Change, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 470-492.

            Andrew Jordan, Rüdiger Wurzel and Anthony Zito, ‘Environmental Governance … or Government? The International Politics of Environmental Instruments,’ in  Peter Dauvergne, ed. Handbook of Global Environmental Politics, (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2005), pp. 202-217.  

            Andrew Jordan, Rüdiger Wurzel, Anthony Zito, and Lars Brückner, ‘Responsibility-Taking and National Eco-Labelling Schemes in Europe,’ in Michele Micheletti, Andreas Follesdal and Dietlind Stolle, eds. Politics, Products, and Markets: Exploring Political Consumerism Past and Present (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2004), pp. 161-180.

            Andrew Jordan, Rüdiger Wurzel, Anthony Zito, and Lars Brückner, ‘The Innovation and Diffusion of “New” Environmental Policy Instruments (NEPIs) in the European Union and Its Member States,’ in F. Biermann, R. Brohm, and K. Dingwerth, eds. Human Dimensions of Global  Environmental Change and the Nation State (Potsdam: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research,  2002), pp. 151-161.

Undergraduate Teaching

Public Policy: Theory, Cases, Skills

Dissertation and project supervision

Postgraduate Teaching

Integration in Europe

Dissertation supervision

• Domorenok E, Zito A. Engines of Learning? Policy Instruments, Cities and Climate Governance. Policy Sciences 2021, (ePub ahead of Print).
• Hayes G, Jinnah S, Kashwan P, Konisky DM, MacGregor S, Meyer JM, Zito AR. Trajectories in environmental politics. Environmental Politics 2021, 30(1-2), 4-16.
• Lenschow A, Burns C, Zito A. Dismantling, Disintegration or Continuing Stealthy Integration in European Union Environmental Policy?. Public Administration 2020, 98(2), 340-348.
• Zito A. Trajectories of European environmental governance over time. In: Christian Wenkel, Eric Bussière, Anahita Grisoni and Hélène Miard-Delacroix, ed. The Environment and the European Public Sphere: Perceptions, Actors, Policies. Winwick: The White Horse Press, 2020.
• Burns C, Gravey V, Jordan A, Zito AR. De-Europeanising or disengaging? EU environmental policy and Brexit. Environmental Politics 2019, 28(2), 271-292.
• Zito AR, Burns C, Lenschow A. Is the trajectory of European Union environmental policy less certain?. Environmental Politics 2019, 28(2), 187-207.
• Wurzel R, Zito AR, Jordan A. Smart (and Not-so-smart) Mixes of New Environmental Policy Instruments. In: Judith van Erp; Michael Faure; André Nollkaemper; Niels Philipsen, ed. Smart Mixes for Transboundary Environmental Harm. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp.69-94.
• Zito AR, Eckersley S, Turner S. The Instruments of European Heritage. In: Whitehead, C., Eckersley, S., Daugbjerg, M., and Bozoğlu, G, ed. Dimensions of Heritage and Memory: Multiple Europes and the Politics of Crisis. Abingdon: Routledge, 2019, pp.50-71.
• Pedersen OW, Zito A. Fracking Frames and the Courts. Environmental Law Review 2018, 20(4), 202-212.
• Zito A. Instrument Constituencies and Epistemic Community Theory. Policy & Society 2018, 37(1), 36-58.
• Zito AR, Aspinwall M. ¿Regiones verdes? Comparación del activismo de la sociedad civil en el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte y la Unión Europea. Perfiles Latinoamericanos 2016, 24(47), 121-149.
• Zito AR, Aspinwall M. Any green Regions? Comparison of the activism of civil society in the North American Free Trade Agreement and the European Union. Perfiles LatinoAmericanos 2016, 24(47), 121-149.
• Zito AR. New Policy Instruments. In: William R. Thompson, ed. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
• Zito AR. Environmental Policy and Governance: Bringing the State Back In (Again)?. In: Giliberto Capano, Michael Howlett, and M. Ramesh, ed. Varieties of Governance: Dynamics, Strategies and Capacities. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
• Zito AR. Expertise and Power: Agencies Operating in Complex Environments. Politics and Governance 2015, 3(1), 73-89.
• Zito AR. Multi-Level Governance, EU public policy, and the evasive dependent variable. In: Edoardo Ongaro, ed. Multi-Level Governance: The Missing Linkages. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2015, pp.15-39.
• Barry J, Mol APJ, Zito AR. Climate change ethics, rights, and policies: an introduction. Environmental Politics 2013, 22(3), 361-376.
• Wurzel RKW, Zito AR, Jordan AJ. Environmental Governance in Europe: A Comparative Analysis of New Environmental Policy Instruments. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2013.
• Jordan A, Wurzel RKW, Zito AR. Still the century of 'new' environmental policy instruments? Exploring patterns of innovation and continuity. Environmental Politics 2013, 22(1), 155-173.
• Rootes C, Zito A, Barry J. Climate change, national politics and grassroots action: an introduction. Environmental Politics 2012, 21(5), 677-690.
• Capano G, Rayner J, Zito AR. Governance from the bottom up: complexity and divergence in comparative perspective. Public Administration 2012, 90(1), 56-73.
• Tollefson C, Zito AR, Gale F. Symposium Overview: Conceptualizing New Governance Arrangements. Public Administration 2012, 90(1), 3-18.
• Zito AR. Policy Framing. In: Badie B; Berg-Schlosser D; Morlino L, ed. International Encyclopedia of Political Science. London: Sage, 2011.
• Wurzel R, Zito AR. 'Green Europe': Differentiation in Environmental Policies. In: Dyson, K;Sepos, A, ed. Which Europe? The Politics of Differentiated Integration. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2010, pp.265-278.
• Zito AR. European agencies as agents of governance and EU learning. Journal of European Public Policy 2009, 16(8), 1224-1243.
• Zito AR, Schout A. Learning theory reconsidered: EU integration theories and learning. Journal of European Public Policy 2009, 16(8), 1103-1123.
• Zito AR, Jacobs J. NGOs, the European Union and the case of the environment. In: Jutta Joachim and Birgit Locher, ed. Transnational activism in the UN and EU. Abingdon: Routledge, 2009, pp.105-120.
• Zito A. European Union: Shifting environmental governance to the supranational level. In: Breton, A; Brosio, G; Dalmazzone, S; Garrone, G, ed. Environmental Governance and Decentralisation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2007, pp.140-172.
• Zito AR. Meeting the European Union's environmental challenge. In: Ruzza, C. and Della Sela, V, ed. Governance and civil society in the European Union volume 2: Exploring policy issues. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007, pp.72-92.
• Jordan A, Wurzel R, Zito AR. New modes of environmental governance: are 'new' environmental instruments (NEPIs) supplanting or supplementing traditional tools of government?. Politische Vierteljahresschift 2007, (Suppl. 39), 283-298+545+555.
• Zito AR. The European Union as an environmental leader in a global environment. Globalizations 2005, 2(3), 363-375.
• Jordan A, Wurzel RKW, Zito AR. The rise of 'new' policy instruments in comparative perspective: has governance eclipsed government?. Political Studies 2005, 53(3), 477-496.
• Jordan A, Wurzel R, Zito AR, Brückner L. Responsibility-taking and national eco-labelling schemes in Europe. In: Micheletti, M., Follesdal, A. and Stolle, D, ed. Politics, products, and markets: exploring political consumerism past and present. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2004, pp.161-180.
• Jordan A, Wurzel RKW, Zito AR. Comparative conclusions - 'New' environmental policy instruments: An evolution or a revolution in environmental policy?. Environmental Politics 2003, 12(1), 201-224.
• Jordan A, Wurzel RKW, Zito AR, Brückner L. European governance and the transfer of 'New' Environmental Policy Instruments (NEPIs) in the European Union. Public Administration 2003, 81(3), 555-574.
• Wurzel RKW, Jordan AR, Zito A, Brückner L. From high regulatory state to social and ecological market economy? 'New' environmental policy instruments in Germany. Environmental Politics 2003, 12(1), 115-136.
• Zito AR, Brückner L, Jordan A, Wurzel RKW. Instrument innovation in an environmental lead state: 'New' environmental policy instruments in the Netherlands. Environmental Politics 2003, 12(1), 157-178.
• Zito AR, Radaelli CM, Jordan A. Introduction to the symposium on 'new' policy instruments in the European Union. Public Administration 2003, 81(3), 509-511.
• Jordan A, Wurzel RKW, Zito AR. 'New' instruments of environmental governance: Patterns and pathways of change. Environmental Politics 2003, 12(1), 1-24.
• Jordan A, Wurzel RKW, Zito AR, Brückner L. Policy innovation or 'muddling through'? 'New' environmental policy instruments in the United Kingdom. Environmental Politics 2003, 12(1), 179-200.
• Wurzel RKW, Brückner L, Jordan A, Zito AR. Struggling to leave behind a highly regulatory past? 'New' environmental policy instruments in Austria. Environmental Politics 2003, 12(1), 51-72.
• Zito AR, Kellow A. Steering through complexity: EU environmental regulation in the international context. Political Studies 2002, 50(1), 43-60.
• Zito AR. Epistemic communities, collective entrepreneurship and European integration. Journal of European Public Policy 2001, 8(4), 585-603.
• Zito AR. Epistemic communities, European Union governance and the public voice. Science and Public Policy 2001, 28(6), 465-476.
• Zito AR. Creating environmental policy in the European Union. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000.
• Zito AR. Task expansion: a theoretical overview. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 1999, 17(1), 19-35.
• Zito AR, Lenschow A. Blurring or shifting of policy frames? Institutionalization of the economic-environmental policy linkage in the European Community. Governance 1998, 11(4), 415-441.
• Zito AR. Comparing environmental policy-making in transnational institutions. Journal of European Public Policy 1998, 5(4), 671-690.