Welcome to my website! I'm a Research Fellow at the European University Institute and Associate Director of the Observatory of Public Attitudes to Migration of the Migration Policy Centre.
I was awarded a PhD in Social and Political Sciences by the European University Institute in 2017 for my thesis entitled ‘Re-Thinking Turnout: Explaining Within-Individual Variation in Electoral Participation’.
I previously taught quantitative methods for the social sciences at the University of Sheffield and was a Junior Visiting Scholar at Nuffield College of the University of Oxford. I also was awarded an MSc by the London School of Economics.
A list of my publications and other experiences can be found below:
Books
Dennison, J. (2016) The Greens in British Politics: Protest, Anti-Austerity and the Divided Left. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Peer-Reviewed journal Articles
Dennison, J. (forthcoming) ‘How issue salience explains the rise of the populist right in Western Europe’ in International Journal of Public Opinion Research
Dennison, J. (forthcoming) ‘A Review of Public Issue Salience: Concepts, Determinants and Effects on Voting’ in Political Studies Review
Dennison, J. and Geddes, A. (2018) ‘A Rising Tide? The Salience of Immigration and the Rise of Anti-Immigration Political Parties in Western Europe’ in The Political Quarterly
Dennison, J., Carl., N. and Evans, G. (2018, online first) ‘European but not European Enough: An Explanation for Brexit’ in European Union Politics
Dennison, J. and Geddes, A. (2018) ‘The Perils of Europeanised Migration’ in Journal of European Public Policy, 25(8): 1137-1153
Dennison, J. (2018) ‘The rug pulled from under them: UKIP and the Greens in 2017’ in Parliamentary Affairs, 71(1): 91-108
Dennison, J. & Draege, J. (2017) ‘Making Sense of the 2016 Italian Constitutional Referendum’ in Mediterranean Politics, 23(3): 403-409
Birch, S. and Dennison, J. (2017, online first) ‘How Protest Voters Choose’ in Party Politics
Dennison, J. (2015) ‘The Other Insurgency? The Greens and the Election’ in Parliamentary Affairs, 68(1): 188-205
Dennison, J. & Goodwin, M. (2015) ‘Immigration, Issue Ownership and the Rise of UKIP’ in Parliamentary Affairs, 68(1): 168-187
Chapters in Edited Volumes
Dennison, J. & Goodwin, M. (2018), ‘The Radical Right in the United Kingdom’ in eds. Rydgren, J. The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Dennison, J., Grumbinaitė, I. and Oliver, T. (2018) ‘Baltic member states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania’ in, ed. Oliver, T., Europe’s Brexit, Newcastle: Agenda.
Evans, G., Carl, N. and Dennison, J. (2017) ‘Brexit: The Causes and Consequences of the UK's decision to leave the EU’ in, eds. Castells, M. et al, Europe’s Crises. Chichester: Polity
Teaching experience
The Politics of the ‘Migration Crisis’: Attitudes, Behaviour & Policies, EUI PhD seminar, 2019
EU JRC Evidence and Policy Summer School, Lecturer, Speaker, 2017, 2018
Migration Policy Centre Summer School, Lecturer, 2017, 2018
University of Sheffield, Graduate Teaching Assistant , 2015-2016 (POL229 - Political Analysis: Research Design and Data Analysis (SPSS))
Working Papers / Research in Progress
‘Why is there no populist radical right party in Spain and Portugal?’ (under review)
‘The Determinants of Party Support After the Arab Spring: Libya, Egypt, Tunisia’ (under review)
‘Re-specifying the relationship between human values and attitudes to immigration’
‘Immigration, attitudes, salience and support for the radical right’ (under review)
‘Voter Psychology and Turnout: A Panel Data Approach’ (under review)
‘Socialisation and Voter Turnout: A Panel Data Approach’ (under review)
‘Resources and Voter Turnout: A Panel Data Approach’ (under review)
‘Partisan Mobilisation and Voter Turnout: A Panel Data Approach’ (under review)
‘Attitudes to immigration: a meta-analysis’
Non-Academic Publications
Dennison, J. and Dražanová, L. (2018) Attitudes to Immigration in Europe and the Southern Mediterranean, ICMPD report
Contributor to: CEPS (2018) The Cost of Non-Europe in Migration Policy
Dennison, J. (2017) Strategic Report for the Green Party of England and Wales
Services to Profession
Reviewer – Electoral Studies; West European Politics; Bulletin of Economic Research; Parliamentary Affairs; Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties; European Union Politics; Publius; Political Studies; Review of International Political Economy; Economic Inquiry; Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Environmental Politics; Intersections: East European Journal of Society and Politics
Statistical software
R, Stata, SPSS, HTML, RATS
Training
National University of Singapore Summer School: Network Analysis, 2016
University of Essex Summer School: Time Series Analysis, 2015
University of Essex Summer School: Panel Data Analysis, Structural Equation Modelling, 2014
European University Institute Workshops: Regression Discontinuity, Diff-in-Diff, R, 2014 - 2016
Professional Experience
National Audit Office, London, United Kingdom, 2012 - 2013
The Houses of Parliament, London, United Kingdom, 2011 - 2012
The European Commission, Brussels, Belgium, 2010 - 2011
The House of Lords, London, United Kingdom, 2009 - 2010
Research Positions
UKIP British Academy project, Lead Research Assistant, 2014 - 2015
EUandI: 2014 European Parliament Voting Advice Application, Team Leader: UK, 2013 - 2014
Invited Speaker
‘The political effects of attitudes to immigration’, MIDEM conference, Berlin, 2018
‘Brexit: Why the UK and why now?’, University of Amsterdam, 2018
‘Explaining Attitudes to Immigration in Europe’, European Parliament, Brussels, 2018
‘Attitudes to Immigration in Europe and the Southern Mediterranean’, Tunis, Tunisia, 2018
State of the Union 2018, EUI Florence, Narratives and Attitudes to Migration. See video here.
‘Understanding attitudes to immigration in Italy today’, 2018, Metropolis conference. See video here.
Presenting evidence to the European Parliament Select Committees. See video here.
‘What Europeans think of immigration’ at EPIM, Brussels, 2018
‘Looking behind the culture of fear’ Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Budapest, 2018
‘Public Attitudes on Migration’, European Commission talk with cabinet, Brussels, 2017
‘The Rise of Populism’, After dinner speaker with Barclays and McKinsey, London, 2017
‘International cooperation in responsibility-sharing for refugees’, American University in Cairo, 2017
‘Movements and Parties’, Invited workshop discussant at University of Aberdeen, 2017
‘Brexit: The Causes, Process and Consequences’, Swedish Network for EU Legal Studies, 2017
‘Explaining the Causes and Consequences of Brexit’, EUI, SPS department seminar, 2016
‘What now for the Green Party?’ Presentation to the Green Party of England and Wales HQ, 2016
Modelling individual dynamics with political science data, University of Essex, 2016
‘Still Strategic Eurosceptic and Polite Xenophobes?’, St. Antony’s College, 2015
‘Green party voters: populist, socialists or environmentalist’, Friends of the Earth, London, 2015
Conferences
EGPP- ‘2017, Europe’s Bumper Year of Elections’, EUI, 9/3/18
‘An Explanation for Brexit’ & ‘Re-specifying Values and Attitudes to Immigration’, EPOP, 10/9/17
‘How Protest Voters Choose’, Political Studies Association, Brighton, 21/3/16
‘The Greens at the 2015 General Election’, Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (EPOP), 12/11/15
‘Explaining Changing Political Interest’ 8th Swiss Household Panel Conf., Lausanne, CH, 2/6/15
‘Immigration and the Rise of UKIP’, British Votes Election Conference, Manchester, 29/5/15
‘Explaining Changing Political Interest’ German Socio-Economic Panel Symposium, Bremen, 13/3/15
‘Changing Financial Circumstances and Voter Turnout’ ECPR Conference, Glasgow, 5/9/2014
Blog Posts and Press
On-going blogging at https://medium.com/@jamesdennison_7425
Why immigration has the potential to upend the Italian election, LSE Europp
Op-ed: Are Europeans turning against asylum seekers and refugees?, European Council on Refugees and Exiles
Experts react to the Florence Speech, LSE Brexit blog
Norway elects a new parliament on 9/11. Here are 4 things to know. Monkey Cage Blog, Washington Post
Ma nel Regno Unito reinasce la militanza, Pagina 99
The Dutch aren’t turning against immigration , LSE EUROPP
Television interview on Brexit with Savaite – See video here.
Italianos votam em referendo que pode levar à queda de premiê, Folha de São Paulo
Voor betere grondwet (of tegen Renzi), De Volksrant
Stemmen over wet is stemmen over Renzi, De Morgen
La London School scommette sulla vittoria del No, La Repubblica
Unless the Yes campaign can shift tactics, Italy’s constitutional referendum is heading for a No vote, LSE EUROPP
The Ultimate Causes of Brexit: History, Culture and Geography, LSE Brexit Vote
Interview with LBC radio
A Long Time Coming: Brexit and What Happens Next, LSE Brexit Vote
What next for the Greens? The Green Party after Natalie Bennett, LSE British Politics and Policy
The Green Surge and how it changed the membership of the party, (with Dr. Poletti), LSE Blogs
Reluctant Europeans? Britain and the EU Referendum, EUI Times
Portugal’s change of government puts the country firmly in uncharted territory, LSE EUROPP
The EU Referendum in Northern Ireland, LSE British Politics and Policy
How Portugal’s Election resembled the UK’s general election, LSE EUROPP
Populist Personalities? LSE British Politics and Policy
Why Preventing Brexit is by No Means a Done Deal, London Evening Standard
From Devo-Max to West Lothian Max, LSE British Politics and Policy
A Lib-Lab Coalition is Perfectly Possible, with the SNP as the Silent Partner, LSE General Election
Election 2015: Is Natalie Bennett to blame for Green Party boom to bust?, International Business Times
英国迎来最难预测大选, Hong Kong Weekly Phoenix
The Loser Takes it All–The SNP After the Referendum, LSE General Election 2015 (cited in the FT)
Green Party Voters Look Like Lib Dems, think like Labour voters and are as dissatisfied as ‘Kippers, LSE British Politics and Policy
UKIP- A flash-in-the-pan or a long-term insurgent? Ballots and Bullets
An English Parliament: The Best Way to Save the UK? Open Democracy
Though the Green Party’s popularity may continue to rise, it is too ideological to become a ‘UKIP of the left’, LSE British Politics and Policy
Carswell’s defection to UKIP will harm Cameron because it was based on principle, but don’t expect other Eurosceptics to follow, LSE British Politics and Policy