Elisabeth Carter

Biography

I received my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the University of Manchester. I studied for a BA in European Studies and Modern Languages (French and German), which included time studying at the IEP in Aix-en-Provence, and then went on to do an MA in European Politics and Policy. I then completed a PhD that examined why right-wing extremist parties across Western Europe have experienced such varying levels of electoral success. I came to Keele in 2003 as a post-doctoral researcher within the Keele European Parties Research Unit (KEPRU) to work on a project on the Europeanization of national political parties. I was then appointed Lecturer in Politics in 2005, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2011.

My research mainly focuses on political parties in Western Europe, particularly those of the extreme right, party systems, elections, and electoral institutions. I have written on these topics in books published by Manchester University Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, and Sage, and in articles in the European Journal of Political Research, the Journal of Political Ideologies, Representation, and West European Politics.

At Keele I teach modules in comparative politics, political parties and elections, the extreme right, and research methods.

In recent years I have been School Research Director, REF Lead for Politics and International Studies, and the School’s Postgraduate Research Student Director. I was also the Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science from 2016 to 2018. I am now Programme Director for the Masters in Politics and International Relations, and the MSc in International Diplomacy, and I continue to convene the Centre for Comparative Politics and Policy here at Keele.

Research and scholarship

My areas of research are:

• Comparative European Politics
• Political Parties and Party Systems
• Elections, Electoral Institutions and Electoral Behaviour
• Right-Wing Extremism

Teaching

• Modern Democracies (Year 1)
• The Extreme Right in Western Europe (Year 3)
• Dissertation in Politics and International Relations (Year 3)
• Comparative European Politics (M-level)
• Research in Action (M-level)
• Approaches to Research Design and Process (M-level / PhD level)

PhD Supervision

• Comparative European Politics
• Political Parties and Party Systems
• Elections, Electoral Institutions and Electoral Behaviour
• Right-Wing Extremism

Prospective students interested in pursuing doctoral research in these areas are welcome to get in touch with me.

Further information is available about studying for a PhD in Politics.