Specialist areas include public-sector housing, trade unions, tribunals, complaints systems, formal and informal regulation, ethics and judicial review. The research focuses on the needs of those who are socially excluded, and adopts a user perspective in understanding the relevance of law in everyday life. Research in governance Research in the area of governance is active and wide-ranging. There is considerable interest in the area of political theory, with particular emphasis on the history of political thought, citizenship and pluralism, and forces which destabilise social order. Work is also being carried out on constitutional reform with particular reference to the legislative process and parliamentary reform and on the media coverage of politics.
International research focuses on the role of religion in development in Iran and elsewhere.
In the field of public administration there is special interest in public service management and in user-led innovations in local government. Staff are currently involved in a number of projects which examine current developments in community governance which builds upon recent work on public participation in the United Kingdom and western Europe. Added to this, we have a long standing interest in institutional capacity building and democratic renewal in central and eastern Europe. Our consultancy work with the Ukrainian Academy of Publication has given rise to several conference papers which have been published in refereed journals and by the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe. We are extending this interest to include the Kyrgyz Republic in central Asia.