Bio

Darren Halpin is Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University. He researches and writes about the organisation of interests and interest representation in the policy process, in Australia, the U.S., the United Kingdom, and comparatively. His work has attracted competitive funding from bodies including the Australian Research Council, UK Economic and Social Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust and the British Academy. Halpin is Co-editor of the international journal Interest Groups and Advocacy and is Editor of a book series of the same name (Palgrave, UK).

Halpin is the author of The Organization of Political Interest Groups: Designing Advocacy (2014, Routledge), Groups, Democracy and Representation: Between Promise and Practice (2010, Manchester University Press), and, with Stewart Lockie, Kristen Kyons and Geoff Lawrence, Going Organic? Mobilizing Networks for Environmentally Responsible Food Production (2006, CAB International).

His new book, with Anthony J. Nownes, The New Entrepreneurial Advocacy: Silicon Valley Elites in American Politics, comes out with Oxford University Press later in 2020.

He has edited three volumes, The Organization Ecology of Interest Communities (2015, Palgrave) with David Lowery and Virginia Gray, The Scale of Interest Organization in Democratic Politics (2012, Palgrave), with Grant Jordan, and Surviving Global Change? Agricultural Interest Groups in Comparative Perspective (2005, Ashgate).

Halpin speaks regularly to academic and practitioner audiences, and provides media comment on his areas of expertise. He founded and Co-directs the Policy Advocacy Lab which serves to connect academic research on policy advocacy to policy practitioners and advocacy organisation leaders. He is often invited to provide input to the boards and senior management of interest groups and associations.

Prior to his appointment at the Australian National University, Halpin held tenured positions in both the United Kingdom and Denmark. He has held visiting positions internationally, including at Helsinki, Stanford, and Aberdeen universities.

At the Australian National University, Halpin teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in interest groups and political lobbying, and convenes the Research Internship program for high performing social science undergraduates. He has held multiple leadership positions at the ANU, including as Head of Department in both Sociology and Political Science, and as Interim Director of the Research School of Social Sciences. 

Find a copy of his full CV here.