Members

Michael Laver

Professional Preparation

B.A.	1970	Essex University	Government (with honors)
M.A.	1971	Essex University	Political Behavior
Ph.D.	1981	Liverpool University	Political Theory and Institutions

Appointments

1993-date	Full Professor, Department of Political Science, Trinity College, Dublin (TCD)
1983-1993	Full Professor, Department of Political Science & Sociology, University College Galway
1981-1983	Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Political Theory and Institutions, University of Liverpool
1973-1981	Lecturer, Department of Political Theory and Institutions, University of Liverpool
1972-1973	Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Queen's University, Belfast
1971-1972	Research Assistant, Department of Government, University of Essex

Publications: directly related

Michael Laver and Kenneth Benoit. 2003. "The evolution of party systems between elections." American Journal of Political Science. 47:2, 215-233.

Michael Laver, Kenneth Benoit and John Garry. 2003. "Estimating the policy positions of political actors using words as data." American Political Science Review. 97:2, 311-331.

Michael Laver and Junko Kato. 2001. "Party discipline and the generic instability of decisive structures in Japan." Electoral Studies, 20:4, 509-527.

Daniela Giannetti and Michael Laver. 2001. "Party system dynamics and the making and breaking of Italian governments." Electoral Studies, 20:4, 529-553.

Michael Laver. 1999. Divided parties, divided government. Legislative Studies Quarterly. XXIV, 5–30.

Publications: other significant

Michael Gallagher, Michael Laver and Peter Mair. 2001. Representative Government in Modern Europe: Third Edition. New York, McGraw-Hill.

Michael Laver and Kenneth A. Shepsle. 1996. Making and Breaking Governments: Government Formation in Parliamentary Democracies. New York: Cambridge University Press. (Ch 12 on intraparty politics).

Michael Laver and Norman Schofield. 1990. Multiparty Government: the Politics of Coalition in Europe. Oxford, Oxford University Press. (Republished in 1998 by University of Michigan Press).

Michael Laver and John Garry. 2000. "Estimating policy positions from political texts."  American Journal of Political Science, 44: 619-634.

Michael Laver and Kenneth A. Shepsle. 1998. "Events, Equilibria and Government Survival." American Journal of Political Science. 42: 28-54.

Synergistic Activities

As Trinity’s Chief Academic Officer, a position held between 1998 and 2001, Laver implemented a College-wide “Broad Curriculum” initiative, designed to overcome the increasing specialization of undergraduate teaching and generate more rounded, numerate, literate, articulate, cosmopolitan and widely-read undergraduates. One key feature of this initiative is a series of “Broad Curriculum” courses offered to all undergraduates. Laver now offers a Politics Broad Curriculum course, which can be viewed at http://www.politics.tcd.ie/courses/undergrad/bcc/index.htm.

He was also co-editor of the European Journal of Political Research for seven years, and academic convenor of the first pan-European political science conference (as opposed to workshop sessions) – ECPR2001 – which included a substantial political “fringe” program including film, music, theatre, dance, photography, etc.

He is currently convenor of the epsNet pan-European conference in Paris.

Collaborators & Other Affiliations

Collaborators and Co-Editors

Ken Benoit, Trinity College Dublin

Gemma Carney, Trinity College Dublin

Michael Gallagher, Trinity College Dublin

Yvonne Galligan, Queens University Belfast

John Garry, Queens University Belfast

Daniela Giannetti, University of Bologna

Ikuo Kabashima, University of Tokyo

Junko Kato, University of Tokyo

Gary King, Harvard University

Monique Leijenaar, University of Nijmegen

Peter Mair, Leiden University

Kees Neimoller, University of Amsterdam

Nicolas Sauger, CEVIPOF, Paris

Ken Shepsle, Harvard University

Graduate and Postdoctoral Advisors

None – PhD by published work

Thesis advisor to:

John Garry, Queens University Belfast

Heinz Brandenburg, Trondheim University

Jane O’Mahony, University College Dublin

Postdoctoral sponsor to:

Thomas Brandenberg, University of Konstanz

Daniela Giannetti, University of Bologna

Total number of postgraduates under supervision over past 5 years: c20