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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
Background

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

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).





 

 

Teaching

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


Publications