Contact
Biography
Caitlin Milazzo is a Professor of Politics and Head of the School of Politics and International Relations. She joined the University of Nottingham in 2013, having previously worked at the University of Exeter. Caitlin received her PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Davis, and she was awarded Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2017.
Caitlin's research has been published in international journals including the Journal of Politics, Political Behavior, Electoral Studies, and Comparative Political Studies. Her co-authored book UKIP: Inside the Campaign to Redraw the Map of British Politics (Oxford University Press) explored UKIP's quest to change British politics using extensive data and unprecedented access to the party's key players. Caitlin's research has also featured on the BBC and CNN International, as well as in news outlets including The Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Sun, The Spectator, and The Newstatesman.
Caitlin provides regular contributions to international media, including the BBC, ITV, and the Economist, as well as election night coverage for BBC World Service. She also serves as convenor of the Elections, Public Opinion and Parties specialist group of the Political Studies Association, and serves on the editorial board of the journal Electoral Studies.
Expertise Summary
- British elections
- Voting behaviour
- Political campaigning
Teaching Summary
Caitlin teaches modules on British and comparative politics with a focus on quantitative methods and research design. Her recent modules include:
- Introduction to Comparative Politics (Level 1)
- How Voters Decide (Level 2)
- Comparative Electoral Systems (Level 3)
Research Summary
Caitlin's current research focuses on the nature of campaign messaging and the behaviour of political candidates and parties in British general elections.
Caitlin started the British Election Leaflet Project in 2014 with the goal of creating an innovative dataset of content-coded general election communications. The current iteration of the dataset, which includes more 8,600 leaflets, represents the largest collection of British election communications to date and provides a new and exciting avenue for exploring variation in the campaign behaviour of parties and their candidates. Her research sheds light on how political elites tailor their messaging depending on the local/national context and their own personal characteristics.
In 2020, Caitlin developed the citizen science project, OpenElections, which allows voters to track and analyse election communications from political candidates.
Selected Publications
TRUMM, SIIM, MILAZZO, CAITLIN and DUGGAN, ALAN, 2023. Parliamentary candidates and their campaign messages at the 2019 General Election Politics. 02633957231186384
TOWNSLEY, JOSHUA, TURNBULL-TUGARTE, STUART J., TRUMM, SIIM and MILAZZO, CAITLIN, 2023. Who votes by post? Understanding the drivers of postal voting in the 2019 British general election Parliamentary Affairs. 76(1), 43-61 TOWNSLEY, JOSHUA, TRUMM, SIIM and MILAZZO, CAITLIN, 2022. ‘The personal touch’: Campaign personalisation in Britain The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. 24(4), 702-722
PhD Supervision
I am interested in supervising students who want to work in the following areas:
- Public opinion and voting behaviour
- Elections and campaigns in Britain
- Electoral systems
- Quantitative research methods
Current PhD students
Callum Tindall - "Populism at the Polls: On the Growing Importance of Populism in 21st Century Britain"
Completed PhD students
Dr Chris Stafford - "The Will of the People? The Responsiveness of UK MPs During the EU Withdrawal Process (2016-2019)"
Dr Ekaterina Kolpinskaya - "Religious Representation In Parliament: Examining the Parliamentary Behaviour of MPs From Jewish and Muslim Backgrounds, 1997-2012"