Staff Profile
Dr Maarja Luhiste
Reader in Comparative Politics & Gender
- Email: maarja.luhiste@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 7506
- Address: Newcastle University
Henry Daysh Building, Room 4.26
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
I am Reader in Comparative Politics & Gender and Editor of Representation - Journal of Representative Democracy - Journal of Representative Democracy. I am also the Director of Research for the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology.
My main research fields include gender and political communication, comparative politics and elections, and survey research. I am particularly interested in how different institutions - such as political parties, media (both traditional and new media), and electoral rules - either facilitate or hinder women’s representation across contexts and how citizens respond to that. I study these questions mostly in the context of advanced industrialised democracies. Directly related to my research interests, I teach a third stage undergraduate module, 'Gender, Campaigns and Media' (POL3109).
I completed my BA in Government and Politics at the University of Tartu, Estonia, in 2007, and worked briefly as a civil servant in the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs before continuing my studies in the Netherlands, where I completed my MA in Political Science at the University of Leiden in 2009. The same year, I was awarded a Marie Curie Early Career Fellowship to study for a PhD at the University of Exeter within the wider Marie Curie Initial Training Network 'ELECDEM'. I completed my PhD on 'Candidate Gender and Electoral Success in PR List Electoral Systems' in 2013. I was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow for the European Research Council funded 'ResponsiveGov' project at University of Leicester between 2012 and 2015. In 2015, I was appointed to a Lectureship in Politics of Gender at Newcastle University.
Current roles and responsibilities
Athena Swan Academic Lead, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology
Director of Research, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology
Twitter: @MaarjaLuh
Research Interests
My research interests include gender and political communication, participation and engagement; political representation; electoral systems; European Parliament elections; and quantitative research methods. While most of my research focuses on political elites, I am also engaged in projects that examine the public opinion aspect of gender, communication, and representation.
Selection of current research projects
"Information Meets Confidence: New Advances in the Measurement of Political (mis)information" - I am currently a Co-Investigator in this collaborative British Academy / Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grant funded project with Dr Javier Sajuria (QMUL) and Dr Jorge Fabrega (Universidad del Desarrollo).
"Public Perceptions, Politicians' Lived Experiences and Interest Representation" - collaborative project with Prof Jae-Jae Spoon (University of Pittsburgh) and Dr Zachary Greene (University of Strathclyde), funded by Newcastle University's Global Engagement Fellowship fund and Newcastle University's School of GPS Covid-19 Impact Fund. This project, building on our LSE British Politics & Policy blog post, aims to examine how lived experiences and self-professed interests affect political elites' policy decisions, especially under unprecedented circumstances (i.e., global pandemic) or in contexts of unarticulated interests. We also explore how knowledge of politicians' lived experiences influence citizens' evaluation of governments' and parties' policy-making competence on specific issues.
"Gender Differences in Campaigning, Media Coverage, and Electoral Outcomes" - collaborative project with Prof Susan Banducci (University of Exeter) and Dr Laura Sudulich (University of Essex), examining how the relationship between candidates' individual campaign effort and their electoral fortunes is mediated by media coverage. This project uses data from "Gender, Campaign Coverage, and Mobilisation Effects" project, that I led as a PI and which was funded by British Academy / Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grant (2015-17).
Undergraduate Teaching
Module leader POL3109: Gender, Campaigns and Media
Dissertation supervisor
Feedback, guidance & consultation hours
Tue 15:00-16:30
Wed 10:00-11:30
- Burlacu D, Lühiste M. Parenthood and social policy preferences: A gender and time sensitive examination. European Journal of Political Research 2021, 60(2), 255-274.
- Elstub S, Liu S-JS, Lühiste M. Coronavirus and Representative Democracy. Representation 2020, 56(4), 431-434.
- Greene Z, Lühiste M. Symbols of Priority? How the Media Selectively Report on Parties' Election Campaigns. European Journal of Political Research 2018, 57(3), 717-739.
- Luhiste M. Party Gatekeepers' Support for Viable Female Candidacy in PR-List Systems. Politics & Gender 2015, 11(1), 89-116.
- Lühiste M, Banducci S. Invisible Women? Comparing Candidates' News Coverage in Europe. Politics & Gender 2016, 12(2), 223-253.
- Lühiste M, Kenny M. Pathways to Power: Women's Representation in the 2014 European Parliament Elections. European Journal of Political Research 2016, 55(3), 626-641.
- Karp J, Luhiste M. Explaining Political Engagement with Online Panels: Comparing the British and American Election Studies. Public Opinion Quarterly 2016, 80(3), 666-693.
- Bernardi L, Morales L, Lühiste M, Bischof D. The Effects of the Fukushima Disaster on Nuclear Energy Debates and Policies: A Two-Step Comparative Examination. Environmental Politics 2018, 27(1), 42-68.
- Elstub S, Luhiste M. Editors’ Introduction. Representation 2017, 53(1), 1-4.
- Banducci S, deVreese CH, Semetko HA, Boomgarden HG, Luhiste M, Peter J, Schuck A, Xezonakis G. European Parliament Election Study, Longitudinal Media Study 1999, 2004, 2009. 2014. GESIS.
- O'Flynn I, Elstub S, Luhiste M. Report on the Northern Ireland Deliberative Forum on Social Care. Newcastle: Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, 2017.