My research is driven by a strong interest in the policy development process; both in understanding how policy is made and the connections between politics and policy.  This is increasingly leading me into the sub-field of political psychology.  The centerpiece of my current research agenda is a contract with Edward Elgar for a book focusing on the role of values in the policy process.  This constitutes a new analytical lens through which to view the policy development process and politics more generally.

Contributing to the empirical basis for the book is an ARC Discovery project which takes a values analytic approach to understanding land use conflict in rural Australia.  This research is seeking to identify the key values that influence attitudes towards rural Australia and the extent to which these limit policy options.  More broadly than agricultural policy, a values analytic approach to policy has important implications for evidence-based policy making as well as for common conceptions of the policy process such as the policy cycle. 

Because of my strong background in Australian rural policy, much of my research has drawn on it as the basis for broader analytical work around the nature of politics and policy.

Linda is available for a HDR supervision consultation to prospective students.

Areas of Research Interest

• Public policy theory and practice
• Australian Politics
• Political Psychology
• Party Politics, particularly the role of coalitions

Research Theories / Models of Interest

• Historical Institutionalism
• Values analysis
• Integrative approaches to public policy

Research Methods of Interest

• Qualitative research
• Interviews
• Sociological discourse analysis