CV

My name is Paul Cairney (it rhymes with hair) and I am Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Stirling, UK. Please scroll down this page for a full list of my publications, with links to the full text. Or you can just click on my CV (updated February 2024).

Cairney photo Japan

Short biography

Paul Cairney is Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Stirling, UK (@Cairneypaul). His research interests are in comparative public policy, policy analysis, and policy theories, applied to UK and devolved government policy, and the use of evidence in policy and policymaking

Longer biography

Paul Cairney is Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Stirling, UK (@Cairneypaul).  His research interests are in comparative public policy. His research spans comparisons of policy theories (Understanding Public Policy, 2020), and co-authored accounts of methods associated with key theories (Handbook of Complexity and Public Policy, 2015), international policy processes (Global Tobacco Control, 2012), and comparisons of UK and devolved policymaking (Why Isn’t Government More Preventive?, 2020). He uses these insights to explain the use of evidence in policy and policymaking, in one book (The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making, 2016), several articles, and many, many blog posts: https://paulcairney.wordpress.com/ebpm/ If you only have time for one article, make it How to communicate effectively with policymakers.

Even longer biography (from my CV, February 2024)

Paul Cairney (PhD, FAcSS) is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Stirling, UK. His research expertise covers the theory, practice, and politics of public policy. It spans comparisons of policy theories, international policy processes, UK and devolved policymaking, and policy sectors (including health and environment). He has written or co-written 14 books, 97 articles in international peer reviewed journals, and 34 chapters in edited books. His Google Scholar h is 57 (13996 citations 4.4.24).

Cairney uses these insights to foster academic-practitioner discussions. He informs debates on political system performance, such as the use of evidence in policymaking, including work co-produced with the European Commission (2017-18), while a Special Adviser to the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee inquiry on effective government (2022-3) and providing oral and written evidence to the UK Covid-19 inquiry Module 2a (2023-34). He explains why there is a gap between high policy ambitions and low evidence of delivery in work co-produced with public health agencies and healthcare organisations in the UK and Ireland (2019-24). Since 2016, he has delivered over 150 invited talks to academic-practitioner audiences. He was Special Advisor to the Scottish Parliament’s Commission on Parliamentary Reform (2017) and has provided written and oral evidence to committees of the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, and Northern Ireland Assembly. He is invited regularly to contribute to national and international newspapers, TV, and radio.

Cairney has secured regular funding to coordinate and conduct research – approximately £1.3m from consortium funding over £17m – including from the Economic and Social Research Council (Centre on Constitutional Change) to compare UK and Scottish policymaking (2013-15), UKRI UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) on multi-level energy policy (2017-18), ERC Horizon 2020 project IMAJINE on policies to reduce inequalities (2017-22), Horizon Europe WAGE on healthy ageing policy (2023-27), and UKRI Local Policy Innovation Partnership on collaborative water policy (2024-27).

Cairney has edited the journal Evidence & Policy (2020-21, with Professor Kat Smith), the Politics of Evidence Based Policymaking section of Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (2017-20), and Special Issues of Politics & Policy (2018, with Professor Chris Weible) and the Journal of European Public Policy (2023). He is an advisory board member of multiple journals, and has provided peer reviews for over 100 journals. He has performed UKRI and ERC peer reviewer and rapporteur roles since 2005, and reviewed funding for multiple international funding bodies.

Cairney co-supervises 3 interdisciplinary PhDs on policy and policymaking (5 co-supervised to completion). He has performed UG or PGT external examiner roles at GCU, UCL (201, and Edinburgh (2023-25), and has been the external examiner of 27 PhDs. Cairney designs and delivers a Master of Public Policy. His commitment to student learning connect book projects – such as Understanding Public Policy, and The Politics of Policy Analysis – to a personal website containing short summaries of key concepts and issues in policy analysis and policymaking. This site attracts 200,000 hits per year, totalling over 2m hits from 1m visits.

Discursive biography

I am an expert in politics and public policy. I combine insights from policymaking research and work with practitioners to apply these insights to real world problems. In doing so, I am struck by the difference between my understanding of policymaking and the perspectives of my colleagues. Their expectations for policymaking seem relatively high, with a much greater potential for disappointment. When I work with colleagues in fields such as public health or climate change, they wonder why policymakers seem to ignore their evidence. In contrast, I assume that policymakers must find efficient ways to ignore almost all information, to make timely choices. When I work with policy practitioners, or groups seeking to influence policy, they often wonder why government policy seems to be a reaction to acute problems, rather than preventing them before they arise. In contrast, I assume that policymakers operate in a policymaking environment over which they have limited knowledge and even less control. Policymakers may want to gather a large amount of policy-relevant evidence and design a more effective system, but find themselves unable to know where to start. For me, these limits prompt us to ask questions about how to engage with policymakers: should policy analysts propose ambitious long-term reforms, to help reduce inequalities and improve the lives of marginalised groups, or stick to what is technically and politically feasible in the short-term? Should we hold governments to account for their formal responsibilities, statements of intent, and policy outcomes, or in relation to what they can actually do? One person could not answer such questions alone. Instead, I offer the combination of insights from policymaking research – in 500, 750, and 1000 words – to give us a language and way of thinking about policy problems, and to encourage learning between citizens, practitioners, and policymakers.

Books

  1. Paul Cairney and Sean Kippin (2024) Politics and Policymaking in the UK (Bristol: Bristol University Press) – see the UK page
  2. Paul Cairney, Michael Keating, Sean Kippin, and Emily St Denny (alphabetical order) (2022) Public Policy to Reduce Inequalities Across Europe: hope versus reality (Oxford: Oxford University Press) (direct link to free PDF) (review)
  3. Paul Cairney (2021) The Politics of Policy Analysis (London: Palgrave Pivot) (PDF) See 750 words for details.
  4. Chris Weible and Paul Cairney (2021) (editors) Practical Lessons From Policy Theories (Bristol University Press) (based on Special Issue) (blog posts)
  5. Paul Cairney (2020) Understanding Public Policy 2nd edition (London: Red Globe Press) Sample chapter Blog 1 Blog 2 Context 500 Words series 1000 Words series
  6. Paul Cairney and Emily St Denny (2020) Why Isn’t Government Policy More Preventive? (Oxford University Press) Introduction and Conclusion (Google Books) Blogs
  7. Paul Cairney, Tanya Heikkila, and Matthew Wood (2019) Making Policy in a Complex World (Cambridge Elements) PDF Blog
  8. Paul Cairney (2016) The Politics of Evidence-based Policymaking (London: Palgrave Pivot) (PDF) (blog)
  9. Robert Geyer and Paul Cairney (editors) (2015) Handbook on Complexity and Public Policy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar)  introduction and conclusion (see also) (Gandar Review)
  10. Paul Cairney and Neil McGarvey (2013) Scottish Politics 2nd Ed. (London: Palgrave) PDF
  11. Paul Cairney, Donley Studlar and Haddii Mamudu (2012) Global Tobacco Control: Power, Policy, Governance and Transfer (London: Palgrave) PDF
  12. Paul Cairney (2012) Understanding Public Policy: Theories and Issues (London: Palgrave) PDF
  13. Paul Cairney (2011) The Scottish Political System Since Devolution: From New Politics to the New Scottish Government (Exeter: Imprint Academic) PDF
  14. Neil McGarvey and Paul Cairney (2008) Scottish Politics (London: Palgrave) PDF

Books in progress

  1. Paul Cairney (2025) COVID-19 Policy and Policymaking in the UK (Oxford: Oxford University Press) – see the COVID page for the draft introduction and plan
  2. Paul Cairney (2024) Understanding Public Policy 3rd edition (London: Red Globe) – see the UPP page for early progress

Articles

  1. Paul Cairney, Irina Timonina, and Hannes Stephan (2023) ‘How can policy and policymaking foster climate justice? A qualitative systematic review’, Open Research Europe [[version 2; peer review: 2 approved], 3, 51, 1-42, https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.15719.2
  2. Paul Cairney (2023) ‘The politics of policy analysis: theoretical insights on real world problems’, Journal of European Public Policy, 30, 9, 1820-38, https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2221282
  3. Paul Cairney and Federico Toth (2023) ‘The politics of COVID-19 experts: comparing winners and losers in Italy and the UK’, Policy and Society, 42, 3, 392–405, https://doi.org/10.1093/polsoc/puad011
  4. Paul Cairney (2023) ‘Teaching the politics of policy analysis, aided by a blog’, Gestión y Análisis de Políticas Públicas (GAPP), https://doi.org/10.24965/gapp.11146,  PDF
  5. Angela Carriedo,  Paul Cairney,  Simón Barquera,  and Benjamin Hawkins (2023) ‘Policy networks and competing interests in the development of the Mexican sugar-sweetened beverages tax’, BMJ Global Health, 8:e012125, 1-15, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012125
  6. Shauna Mahajan, Lydia Tanner, Gabby Ahmadia, Hannah Becker, Nicole DeMello, Robert Fidler, Alastair Harborne, Arundhati Jagadish, Morena Mills, Paul Cairney, Samantha Cheng, Brandie Fariss, Yuta Masuda, Mine Pabari, Maria Tengö, Carina Wyborn, and Louise Glew (2023) ‘Accelerating evidence-informed decision-making in conservation implementing agencies through effective monitoring, evaluation, and learning’, Biological Conservation, 1-10, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110304
  7. Sean Kippin and Paul Cairney (2023) ‘COVID-19 and the second exams fiasco across the UK: four nations trying to avoid immediate policy failure’, British Politics, 18, 1, 151-72, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-022-00202-1 (Exams 2 Annex)
  8. Paul Cairney, Emily St.Denny, and John Boswell (2022) ‘Why is health improvement so difficult to secure?’ [version 2; peer review: 2 approved], Open Research Europe, 2, 76, https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.14841.2
  9. Paul Cairney and Sean Kippin (2022) ‘The future of education equity policy in a COVID-19 world: a qualitative systematic review of lessons from education policymaking’ [version 2; peer review: 2 approved], Open Research Europe, 1, 78, 1-44 https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.13834.2
  10. James Nicholls, Wulf Livingston, Andy Perkins, Beth Cairns, Rebecca Foster, Kirsten M. A. Trayner, Harry R. Sumnall, Tracey Price, Paul Cairney, Josh Dumbrell, and Tessa Parkes (2022) ‘Drug Consumption Rooms and Public Health Policy: Perspectives of Scottish Strategic Decision-Makers’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), 6575; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116575
  11. Paul Cairney, Emily St.Denny, Sean Kippin, and Heather Mitchell (2022) ‘Lessons from policy theories for the pursuit of equity in health, education, and gender policy’, Policy and Politics, 50, 3, 362-83
  12. Kathryn Oliver, Anna Hopkins, Annette Boaz, Shannon Guillot-Wright, and Paul Cairney (2022) ‘What works to promote research-policy engagement?’ Evidence and Policy, 18, 4, 691-713, https://doi.org/10.1332/174426421X16420918447616
  13. Chris Weible, Paul Cairney, and Jill Yordy (2022) ‘A Diamond in the Rough: Digging up and Polishing Harold D. Lasswell’s Decision Functions’, Policy Sciences, 55, 209-22 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-022-09451-9, PDF
  14. Niamh Fitzgerald and Paul Cairney (2022) ‘National objectives, local policymaking: public health efforts to translate national legislation into local policy in Scottish alcohol licensing’, Evidence and Policy, https://doi.org/10.1332/174426421X16397418342227, PDF
  15. Paul Cairney (2022) “The myth of ‘evidence based policymaking’ in a decentred state”, Public Policy and Administration , 37, 1, 46-66 (Special Issue, The Decentred State)  PDF journal PDF https://doi.org/10.1177/0952076720905016
  16. Sean Kippin and Paul Cairney (2022) ‘The COVID-19 exams fiasco across the UK: four nations and two windows of opportunity’, British Politics , 17, 1, 1-23, PDF & Annex & LSE blog
  17. Paul Cairney, Sean Kippin, Emily St Denny, and Heather Mitchell (2022) ‘Policy design for territorial equity in multi-level and multi-sectoral political systems: comparing health and education strategies’, Regional Science, Policy and Practice, 14, 5, 1051-61 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsp3.12466 (PDF) (part of Special Issue Territorial inequalities: analysis and policy design, implementation and evaluation)
  18. Paul Cairney (2021) ‘The politics of policy design’, EURO Journal on Decision Processes, 9, 100002, 1-8,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejdp.2021.100002 (part of Special Issue Decision processes in policy design)
  19. Paul Cairney, Emily St Denny, and Heather Mitchell (2021) ‘The future of public health policymaking after COVID-19: a qualitative systematic review of lessons from Health in All Policies’, Open Research Europe, The future of public health policymaking after COVID-19: a… (europa.eu)
  20. Anna Hopkins, Kathryn Oliver, Annette Boaz, Shannon Guillot-Wright, and Paul Cairney (2021) ‘Are research-policy engagement activities informed by policy theory and evidence? 7 challenges to the UK impact agenda’, Policy, Design & Practice, 4, 3, 341-56  online & PDF
  21. Paul Cairney (2021) “The UK government’s COVID-19 policy: what does ‘guided by the science’ mean in practice?”, Frontiers in Political Science, doi: 10.3389/fpos.2021.624068 (blog)
  22. Paul Cairney (2021) ‘The UK Government’s COVID-19 policy: assessing evidence-informed policy analysis in real time’, British Politics, 16, 1, 90-116 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-020-00150-8 (blog)
  23. Daniel D. Shephard, Anne Ellersiek, Johannes Meuer, Christian Rupietta, Ruth Mayne, and Paul Cairney (2021) ‘Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Approach in new political contexts: Consolidation, configuration, and new findings’, Governance, 34, 2, 523-43  https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12521 PDF (accepted version)
  24. Paul Cairney, Emily St Denny, and Sean Kippin (2021) ‘Policy learning to reduce inequalities: the search for a coherent Scottish gender mainstreaming policy in a multi-level UK’, Territory, Politics and Governance, 9, 3, 412-33 https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2020.1837661 PDF
  25. Paul Cairney and Adam Wellstead (2021) ‘COVID-19: effective policymaking depends on trust in experts, politicians, and the public’, Policy Design and Practice, 4:1, 1-14,
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25741292.2020.1837466 (PDF)
  26. Christopher Weible, Daniel Nohrstedt, Paul Cairney, David Carter, Deserai Crow, Anna Durnová, Tanya Heikkila, Karin Ingold, Allan McConnell & Diane Stone (2020) ‘COVID-19 and the policy sciences: initial reactions and perspectives’, Policy Sciences, 53, 225-41 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-020-09381-4
  27. Paul Cairney and Kathryn Oliver (2020) ‘How should academics engage in policymaking to achieve impact?’ Political Studies Review, 18, 2, 228-44   PDF AM
  28. Fiona Munro and Paul Cairney (2020) ‘A systematic review of energy systems: the role of policymaking in sustainable transitions’, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 119, March, 109598, 1-14 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.109598 (Open Access)
  29. Karen Akerlof et al (2019) ‘A collaboratively derived international research agenda on legislative science advice’, Palgrave Communications, 5, 108, 1-13 doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0318-6 (60 authors)
  30. John Boswell, Paul Cairney, and Emily St Denny (2019) ‘The Politics of Institutionalizing Preventative Health’, Social Science and Medicine 228, May, 202-10 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.02.051 PDF
  31. Donley Studlar and Paul Cairney (2019) ‘Multilevel Governance, Public Health and the Regulation of Food: Is Tobacco Control Policy a Model?’ Journal of Public Health Policy, 40, 147–165 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-019-00165-6 Free-to-view
  32. Anthony Laverty, Chris Kypridemos, Paraskevi Seferidi, Eszter Vamos, Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, Brendan Collins, Simon Capewell, Modi Mwatsama, Paul Cairney, Kate Fleming, Martin O’Flaherty, and Christopher Millett (2019) ‘Quantifying the impact of the Public Health Responsibility Deal on salt intake, cardiovascular disease and gastric cancer burdens: interrupted time series and microsimulation study’, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 73, 881–887 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2018-211749
  33. Paul Cairney, Aileen McHarg, Nicola McEwen and Karen Turner (2019) ‘How to conceptualise energy law and policy for an interdisciplinary audience: The case of post-Brexit UK’, Energy Policy, 129, June, 459-66 Open Access (PDF) Plum
  34. Kathryn Oliver and Paul Cairney (2019) ‘The Dos and Don’ts of influencing policy: a systematic review of advice to academics’, Palgrave Communications Open Access PDF AM
  35. Paul Cairney (2019) ‘The UK government’s imaginative use of evidence to make policy’, British Politics, 14, 1, 1-22 Open Access PDF AM
  36. Ruth Mayne, Duncan Green, Irene Guijt, Martin Walsh, Richard English, and Paul Cairney (2018) ‘Using evidence to influence policy: Oxfam’s experience’, Palgrave Communications, 4, 122 html PDF AM
  37. Lene Topp, David Mair, Laura Smillie, and Paul Cairney (2018) ‘Knowledge management for policy impact: the case of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre’, Palgrave Communications, 4, 87, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-018-0143-3 PDF AM
  38. Paul Cairney (2018) ‘Three habits of successful policy entrepreneurs’, Policy and Politics, 46, 2, 199-217 PDF
  39. Chris Weible and Paul Cairney (2018) ‘Practical lessons from policy theories’ Policy and Politics, 46, 2, 183-97 PDF (Ken Young Best Paper prize)
  40. Adam Wellstead, Paul Cairney, and Kathryn Oliver (2018) ‘Reducing ambiguity to close the science-policy gap’, Policy Design and Practice, 1, 2, 115-25 PDF
  41. Paul Cairney and Kirstein Rummery (2018) ‘Feminising politics to close the evidence-policy gap: the case of social policy in Scotland’, Australian Journal of Public Administration, 77, 4, 542-53 (Open Access) PDF AM
  42. Paul Cairney, Karin Ingold, and Manuel Fischer (2018) ‘Fracking in the UK and Switzerland: why differences in policymaking systems don’t always produce different outputs and outcomes’, Policy and Politics, 46, 1, 125-47 PDF
  43. Paul Cairney and Mikine Yamazaki (2018) ‘A comparison of tobacco policy in the UK and Japan: if the scientific evidence is identical, why is there a major difference in policy?’ Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 20, 3, 253-68 PDF
  44. Paul Cairney and Richard Kwiatkowski (2017) ‘How to communicate effectively with policymakers: combine insights from psychology and policy studies’, Palgrave Communications PDF (see also Kwiatkowski Youtube on organisational politics) AM
  45. Paul Cairney and Christopher M. Weible (2017) ‘The new policy sciences: combining the cognitive science of choice, multiple theories of context, and basic and applied analysis’, Policy Sciences, 50, 4, 619-27 Open Access PDF AM (translated into Spanish)
  46. Paul Cairney and Kathryn Oliver (2017) ‘Evidence-based policymaking is not like evidence-based medicine, so how far should you go to bridge the divide between evidence and policy?’ Health Research Policy and Systems (HARPS), DOI: 10.1186/s12961-017-0192-x PDF AM
  47. Paul Cairney and Robert Geyer (2017) “A critical discussion of complexity theory: how does ‘complexity thinking’ improve our understanding of politics and policymaking?”, Complexity, Governance & Networks, http://dx.doi.org/10.20377/cgn-56 PDF
  48. Paul Cairney (2017) “Evidence-based best practice is more political than it looks: a case study of the ‘Scottish Approach’”, Evidence and Policy, 13, 3, 499-515 PDF
  49. Karin Ingold, Manuel Fischer, and Paul Cairney (2017) ‘Drivers for Policy Agreement in Nascent Subsystems: An Application of the Advocacy Coalition Framework to Fracking Policy in Switzerland and the UK’, Policy Studies Journal, 45, 3, 442-63 PDF (won the Lowi Award for best PSJ article)
  50. Peter Allen and Paul Cairney (2017) “What Do We Mean When We Talk about the ‘Political Class’?” Political Studies Review, 15, 1, 18-27, PDF
  51. Paul Cairney (2016) ‘The Scottish Parliament election 2016: Another momentous event but dull campaign’, Scottish Affairs, 25, 3, 277–293 PDF
  52. Paul Cairney, Kathryn Oliver, and Adam Wellstead (2016) ‘To Bridge the Divide between Evidence and Policy: Reduce Ambiguity as Much as Uncertainty’, Public Administration Review, 76, 3, 399–402 DOI:10.1111/puar.12555 PDF
  53. Paul Cairney and Michael Jones (2016) ‘Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Approach: What Is the Empirical Impact of this Universal Theory?’ Policy Studies Journal, 44, 1, 37-58 PDF (Annex to Cairney Jones 2016) (special issue of PSJ)
  54. Paul Cairney, Siabhainn Russell and Emily St Denny (2016) “The ‘Scottish approach’ to policy and policymaking: what issues are territorial and what are universal?” Policy and Politics, 44, 3, 333-50 PDF
  55. Paul Cairney, Alex Wilson and Michael Keating (2016) “Solving the problem of social background in the UK ‘political class’: do parties do things differently in Westminster, devolved, and European elections?” British Politics, 11, 2, 142–163 PDF
  56. Paul Cairney (2015) ‘The Scottish Independence Referendum: What are the Implications of a No Vote?’ Political Quarterly, 86, 2, 186-91 PDF
  57. Paul Cairney (2015) ‘Scotland’s Future Political System’, Political Quarterly, 86, 2, 217-25 PDF
  58. Hadii Mamudu, Paul Cairney and Donley Studlar (2015) ‘Global Public Policy: does the new venue for transnational tobacco control challenge the old way of doing things?’ Public Administration, 93, 4, 856-73 DOI: 10.1111/padm.12143 PDF
  59. Paul Cairney (2015) ‘What is complex government and what can we do about it?’ Public Money and Management, 35, 1, 3-6 PDF
  60. Paul Cairney and Anders Widfeldt (2015) ‘Is Scotland a Westminster-style Majoritarian Democracy or a Scandinavian-style Consensus Democracy? A comparison of Scotland, the UK and Sweden’, Regional and Federal Studies, 25, 1, 1-18, DOI: 10.1080/13597566.2014.958818 PDF
  61. Paul Cairney (2015) ‘How Can Policy Theory Have an Impact on Policy Making?’ Teaching Public Administration, 33, 1, 22-39 PDF
  62. Paul Cairney (2014) ‘The Territorialisation of Interest Representation in Scotland: Did Devolution Produce a New Form of Group-Government Relations?’ Territory, Politics, Governance, 2, 3, 303-321  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2014.952326 PDF
  63. Paul Cairney and Donley Studlar (2014) ‘Public Health Policy in the United Kingdom: After the War on Tobacco, Is a War on Alcohol Brewing?’ World Medical and Health Policy, 6, 3, 308-323 PDF
  64. Paul Cairney and Haddii Mamudu (2014) ‘The Global Tobacco Control ‘Endgame’: change the policy environment to implement the FCTC’ Journal of Public Health Policy, Advance Access doi: 10.1057/jphp.2014.18 PDF
  65. Donley Studlar and Paul Cairney (2014) ‘Conceptualizing Punctuated and Non-Punctuated Policy Change: Tobacco Control in Comparative Perspective’, International Review of Administrative Sciences, 80, 3, 513-31 PDF
  66. Paul Cairney and Jim Johnston (2014) ‘What is the Role of the Scottish Parliament?’, Scottish Parliamentary Review, 1, 2, 91-130 PDF
  67. Paul Cairney (2013) ‘How Can the Scottish Parliament Be Improved as a Legislature?’ Scottish Parliamentary Review, 1, 1, 141-58 PDF Or you can use this wacky scanned version
  68. Per Nilsen, Christian Ståhl, Kerstin Roback and Paul Cairney (2013) ‘Never the twain shall meet? – a comparison of implementation science and policy implementation research’, Implementation Science 8: 63 Open Access PDF
  69. Paul Cairney (2013) ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: How Do We Combine the Insights of Multiple Theories in Public Policy Studies?’ Policy Studies Journal, 41, 1, 1-21 PDF
  70. Paul Cairney (2013) ‘What is Evolutionary Theory and How Does it Inform Policy Studies?’ Policy and Politics, 41, 2, 279-98  PDF
  71. Grant Jordan and Paul Cairney (2013) ‘What is the ‘Dominant Model’ of British Policy Making? Comparing Majoritarian and Policy Community Ideas’, British Politics, 8, 3, 233-59 PDF (see also our ‘reply’ article PDF)
  72. Paul Cairney (2013) ‘Territorial Policy Communities and the Scottish Policy Style: the Case of Compulsory Education’, Scottish Affairs, 82, Winter, 10-34 PDF
  73. Paul Cairney (2012) ‘Complexity Theory in Political Science and Public Policy’, Political Studies Review, 10, 346-58 PDF
  74. Paul Cairney (2012) ‘Public administration in an age of austerity’: Positive lessons from policy studies’, Public Policy and Administration, 27, 3, 230-47 PDF
  75. Paul Cairney (2012) ‘Intergovernmental Relations in Scotland: what was the SNP effect?’ British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 14, 2, 231-49 PDF
  76. Michael Keating, Paul Cairney and Eve Hepburn (2012) ‘Policy Convergence, Transfer and Learning in the UK under Devolution’, Regional and Federal Studies, 22, 3, 289-307 PDF
  77. Michael Keating and Paul Cairney (2012) ‘Policymaking, Learning and Devolution’, Regional and Federal Studies, 22, 3, 239-50 PDF
  78. Paul Cairney (2011) ‘Coalition Government in Scotland: lessons for the UK’, Political Quarterly, 82, 2, 261-9 PDF
  79. Paul Cairney (2011) ‘The New British Policy Style: From a British to a Scottish Political Tradition?’, Political Studies Review, 9, 2, 208-20 PDF
  80. Steve Kettell and Paul Cairney (2010) ‘Taking the Power of Ideas Seriously: The Case of the 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill’, Policy Studies, 31, 3, 301-17 PDF
  81. Paul Cairney (2009) ‘The Role of Ideas in Policy Transfer: The Case of UK Smoking Bans since Devolution’, Journal of European Public Policy, 16, 3, 471-488 PDF
  82. Paul Cairney (2009) “The ‘British Policy Style’ and Mental Health: Beyond the Headlines”, Journal of Social Policy, 38, 4, 1-18 PDF
  83. Paul Cairney (2009) ‘Implementation and the Governance Problem: A Pressure Participant Perspective’, Public Policy and Administration, 24, 4, 355-77  PDF
  84. Bossman Asare, Paul Cairney and Donley Studlar (2009) ‘Federalism and Multilevel Governance in Tobacco Policy: The European Union, the United Kingdom and the Devolved UK Institutions’, Journal of Public Policy, 29, 1, 79-102 PDF
  85. Michael Keating, Paul Cairney and Eve Hepburn (2009) ‘Territorial Policy Communities and Devolution in the United Kingdom’, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 2, 1, 51-66 PDF
  86. Paul Cairney (2008) ‘Has Devolution Changed the British Policy Style?’ British Politics, 3, 3, 350-72  PDF
  87. Paul Cairney (2007) ‘A Multiple Lens Approach to Policy Change: the Case of Tobacco Policy in the UK’, British Politics, 2, 1, 45-68 PDF
  88. Paul Cairney (2007) ‘Using Devolution to Set the Agenda? Venue shift and the smoking ban in Scotland’, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 9,1, 73-89 PDF
  89. Paul Cairney (2007) ‘The Professionalisation of MPs: Refining the ‘Politics-Facilitating’ Explanation’, Parliamentary Affairs, 60, 2, 212-33 PDF
  90. Paul Cairney (2006) ‘The Analysis of Scottish Parliament Committees: Beyond Capacity and Structure in Comparing West European Legislatures’, European Journal of Political Research, 45, 2, 181-208. PDF
  91. Paul Cairney (2006) ‘Venue Shift Following Devolution: When Reserved Meets Devolved in Scotland’, Regional and Federal Studies, 16, 4, 429-45 PDF
  92. Michael Keating and Paul Cairney (2006) ‘A New Elite? Politicians and Civil Servants in Scotland after Devolution’, Parliamentary Affairs, 59, 1, 43-59 PDF
  93. Mark Shephard and Paul Cairney (2005) “The Impact of the Scottish Parliament in Amending Executive Legislation”, Political Studies, 53, 2, 303-19 PDF
  94. Paul Cairney and Michael Keating (2004) “Sewel Motions in the Scottish Parliament”, Scottish Affairs, 47, 115-34 Free
  95. Mark Shephard and Paul Cairney (2004) “Consensual or Dominant Relationships with Parliament? A Comparison of Administrations and Ministers in Scotland”, Public Administration, 82, 4, 831-56 PDF
  96. Michael Keating, Linda Stevenson, Paul Cairney and Kate Taylor (2003) ‘Does Devolution Make a Difference? Legislative Output and Policy Divergence in Scotland’, Journal of Legislative Studies, 9, 3, 110-39  PDF
  97. Paul Cairney (2002) “New Public Management and the Thatcher Health Care Legacy”, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 4, 3, 375-98 PDF

Editorials, Reply Articles, Debates, Letters to Journal Editors, small Encyclopedia Entries

  1. Paul Cairney, Annette Boaz, and Kathryn Oliver (2023) ‘Translating evidence into policy and practice: what do we know already, and what would further research look like?’ (Editorial), BMJ Quality and Safety, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2023-015911
  2. Paul Cairney (2023) ‘Why Should Health Researchers Use Policy Theories?; Comment on “Modelling the Health Policy Process: One Size Fits All or Horses for Courses?”’, International Journal of Health Policy and Management (IJHPM), https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.2023.7977
  3. Sean Kippin and Paul Cairney (2023) ‘United Kingdom, Public policy in’, in van Gerven M, Rothmayr Allison C & Schubert K (eds.) Encyclopedia of Public Policy (Cham, Switzerland: Springer), 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90434-0_48-1
  4. Adam Wellstead, Paul Cairney, and Kathryn Oliver (2023) ‘Policy Mechanisms’, Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, 9507-9511. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66252-3_3377
  5. Paul Cairney (2022) ‘Policymaking Context Matters, but Can (and Should) It Be Operationalised?; Comment on “Stakeholder Perspectives of Attributes and Features of Context Relevant to Knowledge Translation in Health Settings: A Multi-Country Analysis”‘, International Journal of Health Policy and Management (IJHPM) https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4199.html PDF
  6. Adam Wellstead, Robbert Biesbroek, Paul Cairney, Debra J. Davidson, Johann Dupuis, Michael Howlett, Jeremy Rayner, Richard C. Stedman (2018) “Overcoming the ‘Barriers’ Orthodoxy: A New Approach to Understanding Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Governance Challenges in the Canadian Forest Sector”, Canadian Journal of Forest Research, https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2017-0465
  7. Simon Capewell and Paul Cairney (2018) ‘Should action take priority over further research on public health?’ British Medical Journal, 360 (February) https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k292 AM
  8. Paul Cairney (2017) ‘The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making’, Oxford Research Encyclopedia, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.268 (PDF)
  9. Paul Cairney and Grant Jordan (2015) ‘Theories of the policy process: What is British and what is universal? A polite reply to Marsh and McCaffrie’, British Politics, advance online publication doi: 10.1057/bp.2015.32 PDF
  10. Paul Cairney and Emily St.Denny (2015) ‘What is qualitative research?’ International Journal of Social Research Methodology 18, 1, 117-125, https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2014.957434 (PDF)
  11. Robbert Biesbroek, Johann Dupuis, Andrew Jordan, Adam Wellstead, Michael Howlett, Paul Cairney, Jeremy Rayner, and Debra Davidson (2015) ‘Opening up the black box of adaptation decision-making’, Nature Climate Change 5, 493-4 doi:10.1038/nclimate2615 PDF
  12. Kathryn Oliver, Adam Wellstead, and Paul Cairney (2015) ‘Policy advice: Irked by naivety about policymaking’, Nature (correspondence), 527, 165 (12 November) doi:10.1038/527165e see here

 Book Chapters

  1. Emily St.Denny and Paul Cairney (2024) ‘Learning how to learn’: Teaching policy analysis from the perspective of the ‘new policy sciences’ in Emily St.Denny and Philippe Zittoun (eds)
    Handbook of Teaching Public Policy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar) PDF
  2. Paul Cairney, Irina Timonina, and Hannes Stephan (2024) ‘What are the prospects of a just transition towards sustainable climate change policies? The search for practical lessons from policy studies’ in Lauren Andres, John R. Bryson, Aksel Ersoy, and Louise Reardon (eds) Pandemic Recovery? Reframing and Rescaling Societal Challenges (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar) PDF
  3. Paul Cairney and Tanya Heikkila (2023) ‘How Should We Compare Theories of the Policy Process?’ in Chris Weible (ed) Theories of the Policy Process 5th ed. (London: Routledge)
  4. Paul Cairney, Emily St Denny, Heather Mitchell (2022) “Addressing the expectations gap in preventive public health and ‘Health in All Policies’: how can policy theory help?” in Patrick Fafard, Evelyne de Leeuw, and Adèle Cassola (eds) Integrating Science and Politics for Public Health (London: Palgrave)
  5. Karin Ingold and Paul Cairney (2022) ‘The politics of public administration in policymaking’ in (eds) Fritz Sager and Andreas Ladner The Politics of Public Administration – A Handbook (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar) PDF
  6. Paul Cairney (2022) ‘Evidence-based Policymaking’ in (eds) Jale Tosun and Paolo Roberto Graziano Encyclopedia of European Union Public Policy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar) (Preview) PDF
  7. Paul Cairney (2021) ‘The contested relationship between governance and evidence’ in (eds) Christopher Ansell and Jacob Torfing Handbook on Theories of Governance (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar) PDF
  8. Paul Cairney (2021) ‘Evidence-informed COVID-19 policy: what problem was the UK Government trying to solve?’ in (eds) John Bryson, Lauren Andres, Aksel Ersoy, and Louise Reardon Living with Pandemics: Places, People and Policy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar) PDF PDF
  9. Paul Cairney (2021) ‘The Concept of a Sectoral Policy Style’ in (eds) Jale Tosun and Michael Howlett Routledge Handbook of Policy Styles (London: Routledge) PDF
  10. Paul Cairney (2021) ‘Taking lessons from policy theory into practice’ in (eds) Trish Mercer, Brian Head, and John Wanna Learning policy, doing policy: how do theories about policymaking influence practice? (Canberra: ANU Press)  PDF chapter Full book Mercer et al 2021
  11. Paul Cairney (2021) ‘Would Scotland’s political structures and policy-making change with independence?’ in (eds) Eve Hepburn, Michael Keating and Nicola McEwen Scotland’s New Choice: Independence after Brexit (Edinburgh: Centre on Constitutional Change and The Hunter Foundation) PDF whole book
  12. Lene Topp, David Mair, Laura Smillie, and Paul Cairney (2020) ‘Skills for co-creation’ in (eds) Vladimír Šucha and Marta Sienkiewicz (European Commission, Joint Research Centre) Science for Policy Handbook (Elsevier) PDF
  13. Paul Cairney (2020) “The ‘Scottish Approach’ to Policymaking’ in (ed) Michael Keating The Oxford Handbook of Scottish Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 463-80 Preprint
  14. Michael Keating, Paul Cairney, and Stefano Intropido (2020) ‘The Political Class in Scotland’ in (ed) Michael Keating The Oxford Handbook of Scottish Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 500-511 Preprint
  15. Per Nilsen and Paul Cairney (2020) ‘Policy implementation research’ in (ed) Per Nilsen Handbook on Implementation Science (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar), 368-88
  16. Paul Cairney (2019) ‘Evidence and policy making’ in (eds) Annette Boaz, Huw Davies, Alec Fraser, and Sandra Nutley What Works Now? Evidence-informed policy and practice revisited (Bristol: Policy Press)
  17. Paul Cairney (2019) ‘The transformation of UK tobacco control’ in (eds) Mallory Compton and Paul ‘t Hart Great Policy Successes: How Governments Get It Right in a Big Way at Least Some of the Time (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Compton ‘t Hart 2019 Great Policy Successes
  18. Paul Cairney (2019) ‘Policy Styles in the UK: majoritarian UK versus devolved consensus democracies?’ in (eds) Michael Howlett and Jale Tosun Policy Styles and Policy-Making: Exploring the National Dimension (London: Routledge) Preview PDF proof
  19. Tanya Heikkila and Paul Cairney (2017) ‘Comparison of Theories of the Policy Process’ in (eds) Chris Weible and Paul Sabatier Theories of the Policy Process 4th ed. (Chicago: Westview) PDF
  20. Paul Cairney, Malcolm Harvey and Emily St Denny (2017) ‘Constitutional Change, Social Investment and Prevention Policy in Scotland’ in (ed.) Keating, M. A Wealthier, Fairer Scotland (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press)  PDF
  21. Paul Cairney (2017) ‘Why is the SNP so pleased with the Scottish Parliament?’ in (eds) Gerry Hassan and Simon Barrow The SNP: Ten Years On (Edinburgh: Luath Press) PDF
  22. Paul Cairney (2017) ‘The politics of evidence-based policymaking’, Oxford Research Encyclopedia DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.268 PDF
  23. Paul Cairney, Manuel Fischer and Karin Ingold (2016) ‘Hydraulic fracturing policy in the UK: coalition, cooperation and opposition in the face of uncertainty’ in Christopher Weible, Tanya Heikkila, Karin Ingold and Manuel Fischer, eds. Comparing Coalition Politics: Policy Debates on Hydraulic Fracturing in North America and Western Europe (London: Palgrave) PDF
  24. Paul Cairney (2016) ‘The future of Scottish government and public policy: a distinctive Scottish style?’ in (ed) McTavish, D. Politics in Scotland (London: Routledge) PDF
  25. Paul Cairney and Nikos Zahariadis (2016) ‘Multiple streams analysis: A flexible metaphor presents an opportunity to operationalize agenda setting processes’ in Zahariadis, N. (eds) Handbook of Public Policy Agenda-Setting (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar) PDF see also
  26. Paul Cairney and Chris Weible (2015) ‘Comparing and Contrasting Peter Hall’s Paradigms and Ideas with the Advocacy Coalition Framework’ in (eds) M. Howlett and J. Hogan Policy Paradigms in Theory and Practice (Basingstoke: Palgrave) PDF
  27. Paul Cairney (2015) ‘Sabatier’s advocacy coalition model of policy change’ in (eds) Page, E., Balla, S. and Lodge, M. Oxford Handbook of the Classics of Public Policy and Administration (Oxford: Oxford University Press) PDF1 or PDF2
  28. Paul Cairney and Robert Geyer (2015) ‘Introduction: A New Direction in Policymaking Theory and Practice?’ in (eds.) R. Geyer and P. Cairney Handbook on Complexity and Public Policy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar)  introduction
  29. Paul Cairney and Robert Geyer (2015) ‘Where does complexity and policy go from here?’ in (eds.) R. Geyer and P. Cairney Handbook on Complexity and Public Policy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar) conclusion
  30. Stuart Astill and Paul Cairney (2015) ‘Complexity Theory and Political Science: do new theories require new methods?’ in (eds.) R. Geyer and P. Cairney Handbook on Complexity and Public Policy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar) PDF
  31. Paul Cairney and Tanya Heikkila (2014) ‘A Comparison of Theories of the Policy Process’ in (eds) P. Sabatier and C. Weible Theories of the Policy Process, Third Edition (Chicago: Westview Press) PDF
  32. Paul Cairney (2014) ‘A Crisis of the Union?’ in (eds) Richards, D., Smith, M. and Hay, C. UK Institutions, Crisis and the Response (Basingstoke: Palgrave) PDF
  33. Paul Cairney, Darren Halpin and Grant Jordan (2009) ‘New Scottish Parliament, Same Old Interest Group Politics?’ in C. Jeffery and J. Mitchell (eds.) The Scottish Parliament, 1999-2009: The First Decade (Edinburgh: Luath Press) PDF Paywall
  34. Michael Keating and Paul Cairney (2009) ‘The New Scottish Statute Book: The Scottish Parliament’s Legislative Record Since 1999’ in C. Jeffery and J. Mitchell (eds.) The Scottish Parliament, 1999-2009: The First Decade (Edinburgh: Luath Press) PDF Book

Examples of Other Activities

  1. Expert report and oral evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry
  2. Work with the NHS Confederation and Newton ‘New project to ‘unlock prevention’ within Integrated Care Systems’ in England https://www.nhsconfed.org/news/new-project-unlock-prevention-within-icss
  3. What is effective government? (as special adviser to the Scottish Parliament Finance and Public Administration committee, 9 March 2023) Cairney report for FPAC effective government published 9.3.23 https://paulcairney.wordpress.com/2023/03/14/what-is-effective-government/
  4. Work with Public Health England and Public Health Scotland
  5. Paul Cairney (2019) ‘Fostering Evidence-informed Policy Making: Uncertainty Versus Ambiguity’, briefing note for National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy
  6. Paul Cairney, Kathryn Oliver (Lead Authors), Alfredo De Feo, Vivien Gain, Mita Marra, Lorenzo Marvulli, Don Moynihan, Ortwin Renn (Authors), Gavin Costigan, Stefanie Ettelt, and Robert Lepenies (Reviewers) (2018) Report by the Public Policy, Administration and Sociology group to inform the European Commission Joint Research Centre Enlightenment 2.0 Report (Dowload PPAS group report) (Link to full JRC report Understanding Our Political Nature)
  7. Paul Cairney, Michael Keating, and Emily St Denny (2018) ‘How to use evidence to identify, learn from, and transfer policy success’, Report D6.1 Conceptual Framework for Empirical Research for the European Research Council Horizon2020 Project IMAJINE (Integrative Mechanisms for Addressing Spatial Justice and Territorial Inequalities in Europe) (Download report) (Read summary)
  8. The Commission on Parliamentary Reform’s “Report on the Scottish Parliament” was published on Tuesday 20 June 2017 (Paul Cairney was its Special Adviser)
  9. Paul Cairney (2016) ‘Evidence-based Family Policy: Combining evidence, values, and rules to make good decisions’, Policy Briefing for Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) Scotland (Download Report) (Link to 5 LGIU Briefings)
  10. Paul Cairney (2015) “A ‘decisive shift to prevention’ in Scotland: the next steps”, report to the Scottish Parliament Finance Committee, analysing the 40 submissions to its examination of preventative spending in 2015-16. It used Cairney’s summary of written evidence (see from p43) while gathering oral evidence (p64) from the Scottish Governments Deputy First Minister (3rd Meeting, Monday 18 January 2016).