Hertford Made Me… Politically Conscious

1 February 2024 - 17:30

The first in our new Hertford Made Me lecture series celebrating 150 years of Hertford, we are pleased to welcome alumnus, academic and author Dr James Weinberg (2009, History) back to college. James is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the Department of Politics at the University of Sheffield. He has published on topics such as political trust, leadership, and candidate emergence in a range of high profile journals.

Trust in politics has always been important, but it has taken on added significance in recent years as major events have been increasingly characterised by low trust and increasing cynicism and scepticism about politics and politicians. Yet despite a large literature on the crisis of trust in democracy, there has been no sustained research that directly engages with the primary objects of trust: politicians. In this talk, Dr James Weinberg covers some of the key ideas in his new book, Governing in an Age of Distrust, that tackles this important gap head on by asking not only whether the public trusts in politicians, but also whether politicians accurately perceive and act upon the trust placed in them. In doing so, he will draw on survey and interview data gathered from nationally and locally elected politicians in different countries that have faced a crisis of political trust in recent decades – principally, the United Kingdom, Canada, and South Africa – and raise questions that are arguably of paramount importance if we are to understand when, why, and how politicians do or do not deliver on the promise of democracy.

This talk will take place in the Old Lodgings at Hertford College. To reserve your place, please RSVP here. All welcome!