91快色

Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Sciences

I am a Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Sciences and Continuation & Success Lead for BSc Criminology. I successfully defended my PhD thesis, entitled 鈥淗ow do nations control political finance and why do reforms occur? A nested mixed-method analysis of Political finance reform in Canada, New Zealand, and Commonwealth Caribbean Small States鈥�, at the 91快色of Birmingham, in 2023. I am a comparative politics scholar with primary interests in electoral regulations, party systems, democratic institutions, and campaign finance. My present works focus on how inter- and intra-party dynamics influence the development of financing and electoral regulations.

I have achieved many milestones in my career to date, including solo- and co-authored research outputs in internationally renowned academic journals, such as Party Politics, Electoral Studies, Politics, and Parliamentary Studies, and receipt of prestigious awards such as the Michael K O鈥橰ourke Publication Award, Rosamund Davies Memorial Fellowship, Universitas 21 Fellowship, and Gill Blowers Award. I have a strong research base which comprises expertise in application of numerous research methods and traditions including, but not limited to, Principal Components/Multiple Correspondence Analysis, Factor Analysis, Hierarchical and Model Based Clustering, OLS and Logistic Regression, Process Tracing, Congruence Analysis, and Bayesian Inference. While I primarily hold expertise in quantitative methods, including regular use of R, I also have experience in qualitative study, and have published research using a mixed-methods approach.

I was solely responsible for the initiation, development, and delivery of the award winning (a global database of political finance regimes) and, working with a co-author at the KU Leuven Public Governance Institute, extended the project to develop the 鈥楻eferendum Campaign Finance Regulation Indicator鈥� (RefCFRI). Alongside my academic outputs, I hold a keen interest in studying election campaigns. My analysis of political spending during the 2020 US Election was quoted by ITV News and featured in The Conversation, while I have also made contributions to ECPR鈥檚 The Loop, 尝厂贰鈥檚 US Politics and Policy blog, PSA鈥檚 Political Insight magazine and the People, Power, Politics Podcast, in recent years.

At present, I am working on numerous projects including a monograph provisionally titled 鈥楶olitical Finance in Westminster Democracies: Competition, Governance, and the Politics of Reform鈥�, and a comparative study into Gender-Targeted Public Funding and Women鈥檚 Parliamentary Representation. In conjunction with these projects, I am in the early developmental stages of a study into political finance reform in small state contexts and a collaborative project on the British far-right. I am developing a new undergraduate unit, entitled 鈥楢pplied Data Analysis for Social Scientists鈥�, which focuses on the development of core quantitative research skills.

I am affiliated with the 91快色鈥檚 Research Institute for Media, Art and Performance (RIMAP) and a member of the 91快色of Nottingham鈥檚 Research Centre for the Study of Parties and Democracy (REPRESENT). I am interested in supervising postgraduate projects in any area linked to my below research interests and am open to serving in an advisory capacity to quantitative/mixed methods projects in wider topic areas.

Other References

Qualifications

• PhD Political Science 鈥� 91快色of Birmingham
• PGCert in Advanced Research Methods 鈥� 91快色of Birmingham
• MA Criminology 鈥� 91快色
• BA Hons Criminology 鈥� 91快色
• Fellow of Advance HE

Teaching Expertise

• Crime and Politics
• Research Skills
• Quantitative and Qualitative Research
• SPSS

Research Interests

• Political Finance
• Democratic Institutions
• Comparative Research Methodologies
• Party Systems
• Machine Learning

Projects

• Developing the Regulation of Political Finance Indicator (RoPFI) - (2017-2022)

Publications

Journal Articles

• 2024: 鈥業ntroducing the Referendum Campaign Finance Regulation Index (RefCFRI): A Continuous Indicator Comparing the Level of Regulation in 143 Countries, Politics, Online First. (with Toine Paulissen)
• 2024: 鈥榃hich MPs get Elevated to the UK House of Lords?鈥�, Parliamentary Affairs, Online First. (with Stephen Holden-Bates, Caroline Bhattacharya, and Stephen McKay)
• 2023: 鈥楽candals and Competition as Primary Drivers of Reform? A Congruence Analysis of Australian Political Finance (1980鈥�2020)鈥�, Party Politics, Online First, pp.1-17. doi: 10.1177/13540688231202600.
• 2022: 鈥楳odel based clustering of political finance regimes: Developing the Regulation of Political Finance Indicator鈥�, Electoral Studies, 79 (1) pp.1鈥�12. doi: 0.1016/j.electstud.2022.102524. *Winner of the 2023 Michael K. O鈥橰ourke Best Publication Award
• 2018: 鈥楳arx鈥檚 Renaissance: Explaining the Growth of the left in the UK and beyond鈥�, Political Insight, 9 (3) pp.16-19. doi: 10.1177/2041905818796575.

Research reports

• 2019: Measurement Tools for Comparative Political Finance: Excessive Reductionism or Valuable Simplicity? Electoral Regulation Research Network and Democratic Audit of Australia Working Paper Series No. 54. Available at:

Other publications

• 2024: 鈥楾he 2024 General Election in the United Kingdom: A Victory for Labour and Record-Breaking Defeat for the Conservatives鈥�, WhoGoverns.eu, 8 July. Available at:
• 2024: 鈥楢ll About Money? Elections, Campaign Spending and the Effects on Democracy鈥�, People, Power, Politics Podcast, 24 May. Available at:
• 2022: 鈥楢 novel dataset of global political finance regimes鈥�, ECPR The Loop, 10 October. Available at:
• 2022: Regulation of Political Finance Indicator (RoPFI) Dataset, v1.0. Available at:
• 2021: 鈥楾he Parliament of New Zealand鈥�, PSA Parl: Parliamentary Overviews, 20 April. Available at:
• 2020: 鈥楾he 2020 election was the most expensive in history, but campaign spending does not always lead to success鈥�, LSE US Politics and Policy, 27 November. Available at:
• 2020: 鈥楾he scale of US election spending explained in five graphs鈥�, The Conversation, 15 October. Available at:
• 2020: 鈥楾en years on, the legacy of Citizens United still threatens representative democracy in the United States鈥�, LSE US Politics and Policy, 21 January. Available at:

Conference presentations (last 5 years)

• 2025: 鈥楶olitical Finance in Westminster Democracies: Competition, Governance, and the Politics of Reform鈥�, PSA 75^th Annual International Conference, 91快色of Birmingham, 14-16 April.
• 2024: 鈥楧emocratic Institutions and the Regulation of Political Finance鈥�, ECPR General Conference, 91快色College Dublin, 12-15 August (with Iain McMenamin).
• 2024: 鈥楶olitical Finance and Direct Democracy: Introducing the 鈥楻eferendum Campaign Finance Regulation Index鈥� (RefCFRI)鈥�, After (Neo-) Liberalism 鈥� Towards and Alternative Paradigm: 74th PSA Annual International Conference, 91快色of Strathclyde, 25-27 March (with Toine Paulissen).
• 2023: 鈥楾owards an Integrated Theory of Political Finance Reform: Process Tracing the Diverse Cases of Canada, New Zealand, and Saint Lucia鈥�, Political Futures: 73rd PSA Annual International Conference, 91快色of Liverpool, 3-5 April.
• 2022: 鈥楥ompetition, Organization or Ideology? Process Tracing the Development of Australian Political Finance Reforms (1980鈥�2020)鈥�, REPRESENT Mini-Workshop, 91快色of Nottingham, 10 November.
• 2021: 鈥楨lectoral Competition or Party Ideology? Examining the Incentives Behind Political Finance Reform鈥�, Random Access Memories Conference. PSA ECN, 5-9 July. Available at:
• 2020: 鈥楶atterns of Political Finance: Explaining Political Finance reforms in liberal democracies鈥�, Research Methods Seminar Series. School of Government, 91快色of Birmingham, 25 March.
• 2019: 鈥楥omparative political finance: Towards a unified approach for measuring and categorising political finance systems鈥�, Making Sense of Contemporary Politics. PSA ECN, 91快色of Exeter, 24 June.

Contact Details

E: william.horncastle1@beds.ac.uk

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