Personal profile
Research interests
My research focuses primarily on issues concerning party democracy, including political parties, politicians, elections, and voting behaviour.
My research expertise is the case study of Northern Ireland, on which I have published research on elections, party organisation, political gender equality, power-sharing and the dimensionality of policy space. That research has informed the work of the Northern Ireland Assembly and several interest groups, including the Electoral Reform Society. I have also been involved in the collaborative design and analysis of Voter Advice Applications (VAAs) for several elections in Northern Ireland.
I was a co-investigator on the ESRC-funded project: Out of touch and out of time? A cross-temporal and cross-level analysis of the social and ideological distance between UK voters and political elites (2018-23).
I am currently undertaking collaborative research on:
- political commemoration in Northern Ireland
- contemporary unionism
- mythology in British politics
- security and constituency service in the UK.
External positions
Research Fellow, Queen's University Belfast
Jan 2015 → Aug 2016
Keywords
- Northern Ireland
- UK politics
- Government
- Representation
- Power-sharing democracy
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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By their friends shall ye know them: Donald Trump and the Democratic Unionist Party's populist revival
Matthews, N. T., 4 Mar 2024, In: Irish Political Studies. 39, 4, p. 539-569 31 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review
Open Access3 Citations (Scopus) -
New Labour and Political Myth
Allen, P. & Matthews, N. T., 28 Nov 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Political Ideologies.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review
Open Access -
The security of politicians: towards a research agenda
Matthews, N. T. & Haughey, S., 17 Jul 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Parliamentary Affairs. 30 p., gsae015.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus)
Projects
- 2 Finished
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Exploring the securitisation of constituency service in the UK: a pilot study
Matthews, N. T. (Principal Investigator)
1/10/23 → 30/06/24
Project: Research
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Out of touch and out of time? A Cross-Temporal and Cross-Level Analysis of the Social and Ideological Distance between UK Voters and Political Elites
Matthews, N. T. (Principal Investigator)
1/05/18 → 31/08/21
Project: Research