2024
FILE · M.S. COLE GOVERNANCE & PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Michael Cole BSc · MSc · MPhil · PhD
Senior Lecturer in Organisation and Management
University of Liverpool Management School · University of Liverpool
I'm a governance and public administration specialist at the University of Liverpool Management School. I research local government, devolution, scrutiny and accountability — and, increasingly, public leadership in China and the net-zero agenda.
2007 At the Management School since
90+ Research outputs
5 Active research themes
3 Doctoral projects supervised
01 Profile
How power is held to account
I am a Senior Lecturer in Organisation and Management at the University of Liverpool Management School, where I have taught and researched since 2007. As a governance and public administration specialist, my work asks how power is structured, exercised and — above all — held to account.
I took my BSc in Politics at the University of Southampton, where I also completed an MPhil on the accountability of quangos; I hold an MSc in Information Science from City University and a PhD on local government modernisation from the University of Plymouth. Before Liverpool I held research appointments at the universities of Glamorgan, Northumbria, Exeter and Plymouth, and have carried out consultancy for a number of public-sector organisations.
My research has moved from quangos and the modernisation of British local government towards UK devolved governance and, latterly, a more managerial and international agenda — students' unions, workplace issues, public leadership in China, and the net-zero agenda. I also have a long association with university debating: I served on society committees at Southampton, City and Cardiff, and presided over the Southampton Debating Society a record three times.
Five lines of enquiry
From quangos and local government to devolution, China and decarbonization.
- R.01
Governance, Public Administration & Local Government
The accountability of quangos and quasi-government, and the modernisation of British local government — executive and scrutiny reforms, member allowances, councillor roles, local elections, departmentalism and structure.
- R.02
Devolution, Scrutiny & Constitutional Reform
How devolution reshaped the way legislatures hold the executive to account — committee scrutiny in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, studied comparatively and across constitutional settings. Includes a report used to inform the reform of Welsh governance.
- R.03
Public Leadership & Governance in China
Public leadership and governance in China — provincial perspectives on the promotion and performance of political leaders, the workings of the Chinese stock market, and the state's use of social media during COVID-19. Much of this work is with Dr Jiajing Sun.
- R.04
Net Zero, Innovation & Decarbonization
My latest completed project addresses the net-zero agenda: the relationships between innovation, governmental capability and carbon dioxide emissions. It includes global, comparative studies of decarbonization as a 'super-wicked problem' and a re-reading of the pollution haven hypothesis through 'climate capitalism'.
- R.05
Students' Unions, Workplace & Higher Education
A more managerial line of enquiry: the changing functions of university students' unions in UK and comparative perspective, workplace issues, and the 'shared workplace' agenda.
Recent work
A short selection — the full record runs to ninety-plus outputs.
2024
2022
04 Get in touch
I'm open to collaboration, supervision and consultancy
On governance, public administration, devolution, Chinese public leadership and the net-zero agenda.