Congratulations, Class of 2026! You've learned so much, and now the whole world gets to see what you're capable of. We wish you all the best and look forward to seeing what comes next.

“10 experiments in public policy.” Outstanding talk tonight from Prof Ryan T Moore of American University at the @essexsummerschool.bsky.social. Follow the ESS for more talks, which are usually hybrid!

Can collective reading contribute to democratic resistance? In my essay for LSE's SEA Centre Blog, I reflect on Indonesia's #MembacaMelawan (Reading[is]Resisting) movement, and suggest three ways that collective reading can contribute to democratic resistance: blogs.lse.ac.uk/seac/2026/07...

University degrees are still a great investment for the government and students, says a new report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. UK graduates with Politics and/or International Relations degrees are among the highest earners - comparable to Engineering, Law, or Maths. See report below.

Today! Department of Government Senior Research Officer Omomayowa Abati presents his research.

What’s it like to get work experience as a Research Assistant in the Department of Government? Second-year Politics and IR student Azra shares her story!

What’s it like to get work experience as a Research Assistant in the Department of Government? Second-year Politics and IR student Azra shares her story!

Next week our Senior Research Officer Dr Omomayowa Abati will co-present his important research on language and conflict in Cameroon and Nigeria!

Thank you! The recent workshop we co-organised on Organised Crime: Local Roots & Global Reach was inspired by a very successful event organised by @angeltguevara.bsky.social and @geraldinebustos.bsky.social a couple of years ago at @uniessexgov.bsky.social Looking forward to more collaborations

Are you attending the @epssnet.bsky.social #EPS2026 meeting in Belfast? Essex Government is well represented there, in at least 10 panels! ✊Today Thursday James Rice presents at 13:30 on climate change and Nelson Ruiz presents on voting at 15:20. Enjoy the meeting!

If you’re at @epssnet.bsky.social go check out @chrisguarnold.bsky.social presenting our work on computational vs AI-based secondary analysis of archived qualitative data! Thanks for organising the panel, @kenbenoit.bsky.social and @audreyalejandro.bsky.social. Would have loved to be there!

Well done to @angeltguevara.bsky.social for co-organising this organised crime workshop! And it's great to see Essex PhD @amayoap.bsky.social! Essex PGRs/PhDs, getting it done. And thanks @roxanagutz.bsky.social for the post and your leadership!

This Thursday!

Essex has one of the longest-running DA programmes in the world. This summer, the @essexsummerschool.bsky.social is offering some of our most in-demand courses 👇. #DiscourseAnalysis #SummerSchool #PoliticalTheory #Methods

Check out this publication from recent Essex Government PhD @nihadaboud.bsky.social!

Our @mccrafrica-essex.bsky.social project on multilingualism and conflict in Africa featured on the radio in Cameroon, thanks to our superb colleague and co-investigator Tata. Fun to see this kind of engagement with our research. @uniessexgov.bsky.social

We're delighted to announce the recipients of the 2026 ESS scholarship.🎓 This year's Women in Political Methodology Scholarship and Global South Scholarship have been awarded to outstanding researchers who will be joining us this summer in Colchester and online.

Did you know the Department of Government is home to the world-renowned Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis - the oldest summer methods school in Europe? Quantitative, qualitative, computational (including LLMs), and more. Check out @essexsummerschool.bsky.social for info!

Thrilled to be teaching Introduction to Game Theory at @essexsummerschool.bsky.social this summer! If you’ve been curious about formal modelling but haven’t had a good entry point, this is a great time to jump in. Happy to answer questions, just DM me.

Department of Government staff recently spent a day at Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police headquarters, discussing how our research can contribute to public safety- topics like predicting violence, online threats, preventing violence against women and girls, and community-police relations.

Election day! We hope that everyone who is able will get out and vote. Several Government Department alumni are standing in elections – we wish you all the best of luck! (We cannot endorse candidates.) See if you catch our lecturers on the BBC or other sources! Let us know who you see.

The MCCRA team grows in the DRC! Team members from @odi.global arrive to join colleagues from University of Essex Dept of Language and Linguistics, University of Yaoundé, and the University of Kinshasa. The team is conducting interviews and planning community outreach events. Watch this space!

Essex impact! The House of Commons recently cited evidence from Government Department members Professor Ismene Gizelis and Fareeda Khalifa, along with colleague Dr Iain Overton of Action on Armed Violence.

Do you know Wivenhoe? This weekend is the Art Trail in Wivenhoe -- a nice walk or short bus ride from campus. Free of charge, with many exhibitions to see. www.wivenhoearttrail.com

Tomorrow, join us for the presentation "Language Conflict Studies: Linguistic Political Science." 2pm UK time, Tuesday April 28th. See QR code or the post below for the link to register.

Amazing student presentations! On Saturday, the department gathered for the 15th Annual Student Conference, learning about what final-year students have been researching. Well done all!

Register for this exciting talk, and to get invited to the other talks in the workshop series, here: forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

Check out the latest publication by Essex Government PhD (2018) @rgolar23.bsky.social on a fascinating aspect of dictatorship!

This week the International Politics in Africa workshop brought scholars to Nairobi to discuss their important research! The workshop was led by @mcchacha.bsky.social and @floriangkern.bsky.social, funded by @britishacademy.bsky.social, and hosted by the British Institute of Eastern Africa.

At our 🌍International Politics in Africa🌍 workshop, participants now get to meet the editors in smaller groups (and a chance to enjoy the BIEA gardens). The organisers look on.

Politics and International Relations ranks 75 worldwide in latest QS World University rankings. Happy to see @uniessexgov.bsky.social succeed. www.essex.ac.uk/news/2026/03...

Save the date! On Tuesday 24 March at 2pm UK time, Dr Paul Clist from University of East Anglia will present "Bilinguals in the Lab: Why Does Randomising Language Affect Cooperation?" It draws on experimental work in Uganda. Join us! Register here: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/k16YaHVH1U

MCCRA members Hannah Gibson, Florian Kern, and Omomayowa Abati organized a great event on Friday featuring University of Essex research on Africa. We were joined by Lord Oates, All-Party Parliamentary Group for Africa. @uniessexgov.bsky.social @essexlangling.bsky.social @africasigessex.bsky.social

Starting Thursday, this week!

This week! Thurs, March 12 3pm in NTC 3.06: Women's Day: Research on Gender & Politics 5:30pm in EBS 1.1: British Politics in Transition, with Councillor Paul Dundas Friday, March 13 10:30am in CTC 2.01: Africa in Transition, with Lord Oates 1pm in 4.722: War in Iran panel discussion Join us!

Is it unjust to deny 10-17 year olds the vote? Tune into the new episode with Isa Trifan of @uniessexgov.bsky.social!

Using surveys for your next research project? These ESS courses strengthen your survey research skills from start to finish, from questionnaire design and sampling to scaling and survey experiments. Apply now > shorturl.at/YJlbx

More information on the project, eligibility criteria, and application process here: www.essex.ac.uk/postgraduate... @uniessexgov.bsky.social 3/3

Join us Tuesday for a great talk on counterinsurgency in Somalia!

Are you a third-year student, or do you know someone who is interested in the future of the green economy? Sustainable Transitions at @universityofessex.bsky.social offers the opportunity for a person from an underrepresented group to undertake a fully funded masters degree followed by a PhD. 1/3

Last night we celebrated our Young Scholars award winners. Congratulations all!

Check out these great opportunities at the world-renowned Essex Summer School!

Proud of our Model UN Essex team, who had an outstanding weekend at #SOASMUN. 13 students, and an amazing 4 awards across 5 committees! Congratulations to EssexGov students, Iliyan Jivraj and Lucas Pentland on individual awards, and to the whole team for representing Essex brilliantly! 🎉 #MUNEssex

EssexGov staff and students, celebrate the end of term with us at the 'Big Politics Quiz'! 📅 10 December ⏰ 4-6pm 📍 5.300 Register 👉 bit.ly/48BpKv2 See you there! ❄️☃️

Beyond normal competition with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK now threaten the Conservatives, either directly or by splitting the vote and letting Labour win. By Tom Quinn, @profnjallen.bsky.social and John Bartle. politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/reform-...

📣 Tomorrow! Our Department Speaker Series welcomes Hye Young You on 'Lobbying and Legislative Representation.' 📅 December 2 ⏰ 14.00-15.15 📍 LTB 9 Join us! 🔗 Details in bio #EssexGov #EssexGovSpeakerSeries

In case you want to hear more about this topic! I spoke with Turkey's Anadolu Agency, great discussion. "US designates Venezuela-based cartel as terrorist organization: What does it mean for other countries?" www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/... @uniessexgov.bsky.social @universityofessex.bsky.social

Our students in the Model UN and Politics Society are co-hosting a panel THURSDAY on the changing global order featuring colleagues, Dr. Alex Hennessy, Dr. Brian Phillips, and Dr. Felix Schnell (PHAIS). Join us! #EssexGov #EssexGovEvents #MUNEssex #EssexPoliticsSociety

🚨Tomorrow! Dr. Cassilde Schwartz presents 'A Nation of Laws? The perception of choice and unauthorised migration.' 📣Next week: Dr. Hye Young You, 'Lobbying and Legislative Representation' 🕙 14.00-15.15 📍LTB 9 Join us! 🔗Details at link in bio. #EssexGov #EssexGovSpeakerSeries #EssexGovEvents

🚨TODAY! Hear from three EssexGov alumni working in political communications at Adobe, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, and Parliament. Don’t miss this chance to learn how they built their careers — and how you can too. Join us at 4pm! See link in bio for details.