Associate Professor
Zim NwokoraProfile page
Associate Professor
Faculty of Arts and Education/School of Humanities and Social Sciences/Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation
Orcid identifier0000-0002-2171-9319
- Associate ProfessorFaculty of Arts and Education/School of Humanities and Social Sciences/Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation
- +61 3 924 43993 (Work)
- Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125
BIO
I'm a political scientist specialising in the comparative study of political institutions, especially constitutions, political parties and political finance. My research is motivated by the practical goal of understanding how politics can be structured in order to achieve better governance.
I'm a comparativist by training and orientation, but I pay particular attention to politics in Australia, Britain, the United States and Nigeria. I'm a keen participant in interdisciplinary conversations about institutions that include constitutional lawyers, political philosophers, and political economists.
In recent years, some of the individual and collaborative research projects I've undertaken include the following:
(i) Study of how constitutions can be designed to adapt to changing political systems over time.
(ii) Investigation of the evolution of constitutional norms in liberal democracies.
(iii) Development of a new measure of 'party system change' and its application across Africa.
(iv) Research on parliamentary ethics and culture in Australia.
(v) Analysis of how democracies can/should respond to disinformation.
I currently serve as Course Director of Deakin's Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics (BPPE). I'm also actively involved with the Alfred Deakin Institute, the POLIS research network, and the Parliamentary Careers and Workplaces project. Beyond Deakin, I'm active in various networks including the Political Organizations and Parties (POP) sections of the American Political Science Association and Australian Political Studies Association, the UK Political Studies Association, and the International Society of Public Law (ICON-S). I have collaborated with parliaments, electoral commissions and public policy think tanks.
Prior to commencing at Deakin in 2016, I held postdoctoral fellowships at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne (2013-2016) and at the Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University (2010-2013).
I'm a comparativist by training and orientation, but I pay particular attention to politics in Australia, Britain, the United States and Nigeria. I'm a keen participant in interdisciplinary conversations about institutions that include constitutional lawyers, political philosophers, and political economists.
In recent years, some of the individual and collaborative research projects I've undertaken include the following:
(i) Study of how constitutions can be designed to adapt to changing political systems over time.
(ii) Investigation of the evolution of constitutional norms in liberal democracies.
(iii) Development of a new measure of 'party system change' and its application across Africa.
(iv) Research on parliamentary ethics and culture in Australia.
(v) Analysis of how democracies can/should respond to disinformation.
I currently serve as Course Director of Deakin's Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics (BPPE). I'm also actively involved with the Alfred Deakin Institute, the POLIS research network, and the Parliamentary Careers and Workplaces project. Beyond Deakin, I'm active in various networks including the Political Organizations and Parties (POP) sections of the American Political Science Association and Australian Political Studies Association, the UK Political Studies Association, and the International Society of Public Law (ICON-S). I have collaborated with parliaments, electoral commissions and public policy think tanks.
Prior to commencing at Deakin in 2016, I held postdoctoral fellowships at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne (2013-2016) and at the Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University (2010-2013).
DEAKIN UNIVERSITY CURRENT APPOINTMENT
- Associate ProfessorDeakin University, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
DEGREES
- Graduate Certificate of Higher Ed. Learning & TeachingDeakin University, Australia2017 - 2018
- D.Phil in PoliticsUniversity of Oxford, United Kingdom2006 - 2010
- M.Phil in Comparative GovernmentUniversity of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom2004 - 2006
- BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE)University of Oxford, United Kingdom2001 - 2004
FIELDS OF RESEARCH (2020)
- Political science
- Policy and administration
AVAILABILITY FOR SUPERVISION
- Masters by Research and PhD supervision
AREA/FACULTY
- Faculty of Arts and Education
DEPARTMENT/SCHOOL/INSTITUTE
- School of Humanities and Social Sciences
STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND INNOVATION CENTRE
- Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation