• School of Social Sciences
• Disciplines
• Politics
• Research groups
• Governance, Representation and Policy (GRP)
  • Staff
  • Research Students
  • Seminars
  • Reading group

Governance, Representation and Policy (GRP)

Governance Representation and Policy brings together staff involved in the policy and applied aspects of Politics. It is headed by Dr Francesca Gains (francesca.gains@manchester.ac.uk). For information on GRP staff and their research, see our individual research profiles.

Research activity

GRP's research activity is focused around the following themes: governance and public policy in central, regional and local government; the NHS and executive agencies; public and urban policy and evaluation; public sector organisation and reform; public policy on gender and the family; civil society, social capital, public participation, citizenship and public scrutiny; electoral systems; and British social and cultural history.
GRP members have strong links with the following research centres and networks:

• the Institute for Political and Economic Governance (IPEG)
• the Institute for Social Change (ISC)
• the Herbert Simon Institute
• the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR)
• the Democracy, Citizens and Elections Research Network (DCERN)
• the Gender Research Network (GRN)

GRP works with other parts of the University through the Herbert Simon Institute to develop public policy research in the Schools of Education, Law and the Manchester Business School.

Workshops, seminars and reading groups

GRP organizes regular seminars, workshops and a monthly reading group. 

Events planned in 2008/9 include:

• a one day workshop on Using Ethnography in Policy Research
• a one day seminar on risk and family intervention. 

Postgraduate research

GRP strives to produce and support scholarship of the highest quality. We provide our staff and research students with an encouraging and supportive environment. GRP's PhD students are integrated into all of its activities. An annual graduate symposium provides opportunities to present papers, to develop research papers in preparation for journal submission and to explore questions of method and analysis.

Teaching

GRP staff run many courses in undergraduate programmes in Politics. We also contribute two streams in the MA in Political Science (Governance and Representation and Democracy and Elections).  GRP is also involved in delivering and re-developing a Masters in Public Administration programme run by the Manchester Business School.