Professor Ian Budge
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Email
budgi@essex.ac.uk -
Location
Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
Founder of the international Manifesto Research Project which has produced the Mapping Policy Preferences series – APSA prize winners for the over 300 publications they have supported across the world. Author or co-author of some thirty volumes and sixty monographs on democratic theory and practice (most recently Politics: A Unified Introduction to How Democracy Works and Kick-starting Government Action against Climate Change: Effective Political Strategies). Co-author of The New British Politics series. Past Executive Director of the ECPR, Head of Department, Graduate Director, and Founder of Essex Summer Schools on quantitative social research. Current research: Applying the alternation theory of party democracy around the world. His research has been honoured in a Festschrift (Bara and Weale eds. Democratic Politics and Party Competition (London, Routledge, 2006); and by the Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Consortium for Political Research (2013). Active for over fifty years as a political scientist, Ian Budge has made major contributions both to cumulative research on democracy and to organisational developments in the discipline. His earliest research on Glasgow and Belfast in the 1960s focused on causes of democratic breakdown. After a middle period studying elections, voting behaviour and party competition cross-nationally, he turned to public policy and how it could be made responsive to popular preferences – the central promise of democracy. Organisationally, Budge founded the Essex Summer Schools in Quantitative Social Research – now past their half century – and played a major part in developing both the European Consortium for Political Research as second Executive Director and the innovative Department of Government at Essex (as Head and Graduate Director several times). He has been internationally recognised by visiting professorships at many institutions including the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study, Autònoma Barcelona, European University Institute Florence, UC Irvine, Suny Binghamton and ANU Canberra. Combining research and organisational concerns has been his Directorship of the Comparative Manifestos Project (MRG/CMP/MARPOR). This has collected and analysed the election programmes of all significant parties in around 50 democracies world-wide, in order to provide long policy time series for research on parties, electorates and governments. These have supported over 300 published pieces of research, including Budge's own. Their importance to comparative politics was recognised by an American Political Science Association Award in 2003, and by the festschrift dedicated to them (Democratic Politics and Party Competition ed. Bara & Weale, Routledge, London, 2006). Most recently Budge has applied his research knowledge to the problem of getting effective action against catastrophic climate change in Kick-starting Government Action against Climate Change: Effective Political Strategies (Routledge, London and New York 2021), which also involves rethinking the relationship between politics and economics.
Qualifications
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MA (History) University of Edinburgh, (1959)
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AM (Political Science) Yale University, (1961)
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PhD Yale University, (1967)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
How democracy works in terms of party competition
Party government and interaction with the population
Publications
Journal articles (49)
Budge, I. and McDonald, MD., (2024). Specifying and Contextualising Predictive Theories of Democratic Policy Representation. Political Studies Review
Best, RE., Budge, I. and McDonald, MD., (2018). Jettisoning Illusions About the Median Mandate. Legislative Studies Quarterly. 43 (1), 11-20
Budge, I., (2015). Issue Emphases, Saliency Theory and Issue Ownership: A Historical and Conceptual Analysis. West European Politics. 38 (4), 761-777
McDonald, MD. and Budge, I., (2014). Getting it (approximately) right (and centre and left!): Reliability and uncertainty estimates for the comparative manifesto data. Electoral Studies. 35, 67-77
McDonald, MD., Budge, I. and Best, RE., (2012). Electoral Majorities, Political Parties, and Collective Representation. Comparative Political Studies. 45 (9), 1104-1131
Budge, I. and McDonald, MD., (2012). Conceptualising and measuring ‘centrism’ correctly on the Left–Right scale (RILE) - without systematic bias. A general response by MARPOR. Electoral Studies. 31 (3), 609-612
BEST, RE., BUDGE, IAN. and MCDONALD, MD., (2012). Representation as a median mandate: Taking cross‐national differences seriously. European Journal of Political Research. 51 (1), 1-23
Budge, I., Ezrow, L. and McDonald, MD., (2010). Ideology, Party Factionalism and Policy Change: An integrated dynamic theory. British Journal of Political Science. 40 (4), 781-804
Volkens, A., Bara, J. and Budge, I., (2009). Data quality in content analysis. The case of the comparative manifestos project. Historical Social Research. 34 (1), 234-251
Budge, I. and McDonald, MD., (2007). Election and party system effects on policy representation: Bringing time into a comparative perspective. Electoral Studies. 26 (1), 168-179
Budge, I. and Pennings, P., (2007). Do they work? Validating computerised word frequency estimates against policy series. Electoral Studies. 26 (1), 121-129
Budge, I. and Pennings, P., (2007). Missing the message and shooting the messenger: Benoit and Laver's ‘response’. Electoral Studies. 26 (1), 136-141
Budge, I. and McDonald, MD., (2006). Choices Parties Define. Party Politics. 12 (4), 451-466
Budge, I., (2006). Direct and Representative Democracy: Are They Necessarily Opposed?. Representation. 42 (1), 1-12
McDonald, MD., Budge, I. and Pennings, P., (2004). Choice versus sensitivity: Party reactions to public concerns. European Journal of Political Research. 43 (6), 845-868
McDonald, MD., Mendes, SM. and Budge, I., (2004). What Are Elections For? Conferring the Median Mandate. British Journal of Political Science. 34 (1), 1-26
BUDGE, IAN., (2001). Validating Party Policy Placements. British Journal of Political Science. 31 (01), 179-223
Bara, J., (2001). Party Policy and Ideology: Still New Labour?. Parliamentary Affairs. 54 (4), 590-606
BUDGE, IAN., (2000). Expert judgements of party policy positions: uses and limitations in political research. European Journal of Political Research. 37 (1), 103-113
(1999). Discussion. Electoral Studies. 18 (4), 587-596
Hearl, DJ., Budge, I. and Pearson, B., (1996). Distinctiveness of regional voting: A comparative analysis across the European Community (1979–1993). Electoral Studies. 15 (2), 167-182
Budge, I., (1994). A New Spatial Theory of Party Competition: Uncertainty, Ideology and Policy Equilibria Viewed Comparatively and Temporally. British Journal of Political Science. 24 (4), 443-467
King, G., Laver, M., Hofferbert, RI., Budge, I. and McDonald, MD., (1993). Party Platforms, Mandates, and Government Spending. American Political Science Review. 87 (3), 744-750
Budge, I. and Laver, M., (1993). The Policy Basis of Government Coalitions: A Comparative Investigation. British Journal of Political Science. 23 (4), 499-519
Hofferbert, RI. and Budge, I., (1992). The Party Mandate and the Westminster Model: Election Programmes and Government Spending in Britain, 1948–85. British Journal of Political Science. 22 (2), 151-182
Budge, I. and Hofferbert, RI., (1990). Mandates and Policy Outputs: U.S. Party Platforms and Federal Expenditures. American Political Science Review. 84 (1), 111-131
Budge, I., (1985). Party Factions and Government Reshuffles: a General Hypothesis Tested against Data from 20 Post-war Democracies*. European Journal of Political Research. 13 (3), 327-333
Budge, I., (1984). Parties and democratic government: A framework for comparative explanation. West European Politics. 7 (1), 95-118
Budge, I. and Farlie, D., (1983). Party competition - selective emphasis or direct confrontation? An alternative view with data.. Western European party systems: continuity and change, 267-305
Budge, I., Farlie, D. and Laver, M., (1983). Shifts of meaning within explanations of voting and party competition. Electoral Studies. 2 (1), 23-38
BUDGE, IAN., (1982). Strategies, Issues, and Votes. Comparative Political Studies. 15 (2), 171-196
Budge, I., (1982). Electoral volatility: Issue effects and basic change in 23 post-war democracies. Electoral Studies. 1 (2), 147-168
Budge, I. and Farlie, DJ., (1981). Predicting regime change: A cross-national investigation with aggregate data 1950?1980. Quality and Quantity. 15 (4), 335-364
Budge, I., Farlie, D. and Irwin, G., (1981). Predicting Parliamentary Careers: A Quantitative Index Generated and Tested with Dutch Data*. European Journal of Political Research. 9 (2), 201-208
Budge, I., (1978). Representations of Political Argument: Applications within Meta-Planning. Political Studies. 26 (4), 439-449
Budge, I., (1978). Voter Rationality and Party Competition: A Comment on Laver's Suggested Approach. British Journal of Political Science. 8 (4), 511-511
Budge, I. and Herman, V., (1978). Coalitions and Government Formation: An Empirically Relevant Theory. British Journal of Political Science. 8 (4), 459-477
Budge, I. and Farlie, D., (1978). The Potentiality of Dimensional Analyses for Explaining Voting and Party Competition. European Journal of Political Research. 6 (2), 203-232
Farlie, D., Budge, I. and Irwin, G., (1977). Political Recruitment and Drop-Out: The Netherlands and the United States. British Journal of Political Science. 7 (4), 465-492
Farlie, D. and Budge, I., (1977). Newtonian Mechanics and Predictive Election Theory. British Journal of Political Science. 7 (3), 413-418
Farlie, D. and Budge, I., (1976). A Rejoinder. British Journal of Political Science. 6 (1), 126-127
Budge, I. and Farlie, D., (1975). Political Recruitment and Dropout: Predictive Success of Background Characteristics Over Five British Localities. British Journal of Political Science. 5 (1), 33-68
Budge, I., (1973). The Scientific Status of Political Science: A Comment on Self-fulfilling and Self-defeating Predictions. British Journal of Political Science. 3 (2), 249-250
Budge, I., (1973). Consensus Hypotheses and Conflict of Interest: an Attempt at Theory Integration. British Journal of Political Science. 3 (1), 73-98
Budge, I., (1973). Recent Legislative Research: Assumptions and Strategies1. European Journal of Political Research. 1 (4), 317-330
Budge, I., (1971). Jeremy Bentham: A Re-Evaluation in the Context of Empirical Social Science. Political Studies. 19 (1), 18-36
Budge, I., (1971). Support for Nation and Government Among English Children: A Comment. British Journal of Political Science. 1 (3), 389-392
Budge, I., (1971). Correspondence. Political Studies. 19 (3), 381-382
Budge, I., (1965). Electors' Attitudes towards Local Government: A Survey of a Glasgow Constituency. Political Studies. 13 (3), 386-392
Books (25)
Budge, I., (2021). Kick-Starting Government Action against Climate Change: Effective Political Strategies. Routledge. 1000531171. 9781000531176
Budge, I., (2019). Politics: A Unified Introduction to How Democracy Works. Routledge. 0429678312. 9780429678318
Budge, I. and Laver, MJ., (2016). Party Policy and Government Coalitions. Springer. 1349223689. 9781349223688
Budge, I. and Birch, S., (2014). National Policy in a Global Economy. Palgrave Macmillan UK. 9781349501335
Volkens, A., Bara, J., Budge, I., McDonald, MD., Klingemann, H-D. and et al, (2013). Mapping Policy Preferences from Texts: Statistical Solutions for Manifesto Analysts. Oxford University Press. 0199640041. 9780199640041
Budge, I., McDonald, M., Pennings, P. and Keman, H., (2012). Organizing Democratic Choice: Party Representation Over Time. Oxford University Press. 019965493X. 9780199654932
Bartle, J., Budge, I., Newton, K. and McKay, D., (2007). The New British Politics. Routledge. 978-1-40-582421-7
Klingemann, H-D., Volkens, A., Bara, J., Budge, I. and McDonald, MD., (2006). Mapping Policy Preferences II: Estimates for Parties, Electors, and Governments in Eastern Europe, European Union, and OECD 1990-2003. OUP Oxford. 0191516309. 9780191516306
McDonald, MD. and Budge, I., (2006). Elections, Parties, Democracy: Conferring the Median Mandate. Oxford University PressOxford. 0199286728. 9780199286720
Budge, I., Budge, POGI., Klingemann, H-D., Volkens, A., Bara, J., Klingemann, DOTRUIASCH-D., Tanenbaum, E., Klingemann, FATWAPOPSH-D. and Tanenbaum, PTFDOGE., (2001). Mapping Policy Preferences Estimates for Parties, Electors, and Governments, 1945-1998. Oxford University Press on Demand. 0199244006. 9780199244003
Woldendorp, JJ., Keman, H. and Budge, I., (2000). Party Government in 48 Democracies (1945-1998). Dordrecht. 9401725489. 9789401725484
Newton, K., Budge, I. and Kirchner, E., (1997). The Politics of the New Europe: Atlantic to Urals. Routledge. 1317892402. 9781317892403
Budge, I., (1996). The New Challenge of Direct Democracy. Polity. 0745617654. 9780745617657
Klingemann, H-D., Hofferbert, RI. and Budge, I., (1994). Parties, Policies, and Democracy. 0813320682. 9780813320687
Budge, I. and Keman, H., (1990). Parties and Democracy Coalition Formation and Government Functioning in Twenty States. Oxford University Press, USA. 0198277520. 9780198277521
Budge, I. and Keman, H., (1990). Parties and Democracy: Coalition Formation and Government Functioning in 22 Democracies. Oxford University Press
Budge, I., (1987). Ideology, Strategy and Party Movement,. Cambridge University Press
Budge, I., (1983). The New British Political System Government and Society in the 1980s. Longman Publishing Group
Budge, I. and Farlie, D., (1983). Explaining and Predicting Elections Issue Effects and Party Strategies in Twenty-three Democracies. Taylor & Francis. 0043240089. 9780043240083
Budge, I., Budge, POGI. and Farlie, D., (1977). Voting and Party Competition A Theoretical Critique and Synthesis Applied to Surveys from Ten Democracies. John Wiley & Sons
Budge, I., Crewe, I. and Farlie, DJ., (1976). Party Identification and Beyond. Wiley
Budge, I. and O’Leary, C., (1973). Belfast: Approach to Crisis. Palgrave Macmillan UK. 9781349001286
Budge, I., (1972). Political Stratification and Democracy. Springer. 1349011398. 9781349011391
Budge, I., (1970). Agreement and the Stability of Democracy
Budge, I. and Urwin, DW., (1966). Scottish Political Behavior A Case Study in British Homogeneity
Book chapters (14)
Budge, I., (2020). Does Populism Discredit Direct Democracy?. In: Authoritarian Populism and Liberal Democracy. Springer Nature Switzerland. 183- 196. 9783030179960
Budge, I., (2020). Party-based representation: the paradox of democracy. In: Research Handbook on Political Representation. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. 109- 120. 9781788977081
Budge, I., (2015). Political Parties: Manifestoes. In: International Encyclopaedia of the Social & Behavioural Sciences. Elsevier. 417- 420. 9780080970868
Budge, I., (2014). Deconstructing party identification - and reconstructions beyond. In: Political Parties and Partisanship: Social Identity and Individual Attitudes. 26- 41. 9780203884454
Budge, I. and McDonald, MD., (2012). Party government and parliamentary democracy in the new Europe. In: Party Government in the New Europe. Routledge. 27- 56. 9780203111611
Budge, I., (2012). Implementing popular preferences: Is direct democracy the answer?. In: Evaluating Democratic Innovations: Curing the Democratic Malaise?. Routledge. 23- 38. 9780415669191
Budge, I., (2009). Direct Democracy. In: The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions. Oxford University Press. 595- 610. 0199548463. 9780199548460
Budge, I., (2008). Great Britain and Ireland: Variations in party government. In: Comparative European Politics: Third Edition. Routledge. 17- 57. 020394609X. 9780203946091
Budge, I., (2008). Great Britain and Ireland: Variations in Party Government. In: Comparative European Politics, Third Edition. 17- 57. 9780203946091
Budge, I., (2006). Identifying Dimensions and Locating Parties: Methodological and Conceptual Problems. In: Handbook of Party Politics. SAGE Publications Ltd. 422- 433. 9780761943143
Budge, I., (2003). Great Britain and Ireland: Variations of party government. In: Political Institutions in Europe: Second Edition. Routledge. 17- 55. 0203303555. 9780203303559
(2003). Deliberative democracy versus direct democracy – plus political parties!. In: Democratic Innovation. Routledge. 209- 226. 9780415406574
Budge, I., (2003). Validating the Manifesto Research Group approach: Theoretical assumptions and empirical confirmations. In: Estimating the Policy Position of Political Actors. 50- 65. 0415244420. 9780203451656
Budge, I., (2003). GREAT BRITAIN: A STABLE, BUT FRAGILE, PARTY SYSTEM?. In: Comparing Party System Change. 116- 126. 9780203451052
Conferences (1)
Budge, I., (1987). Manifestos and mandates
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