Lauren McLaren
Associate Professor of Politics, Faculty of Social Sciences
Contact
Biography
Lauren McLaren is Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Nottingham, and Associate Member of the Methods and Data Institute at the University of Nottingham. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Houston.
Expertise Summary
M12073 Politics of Southern Europe
M13089 Politics of Public Opinion
M14120 The Making of Political Science
M14337/M14387 Controversies in European Politics
Research Summary
Dr McLaren has conducted research on public opinion toward European integration and immigration in Europe, as well as Turkey and the European Union. Her current research examines democratic… read more
Recent Publications
MCLAREN, LAUREN and GUERRA, SIMONA, 2013. Public Opinion and the EU. In: MICHELLE CINI, NIEVES PEREZ-SOLORZANO BORRAGAN, ed., European Union Politics 4. Oxford University Press. (In Press.)
MCLAREN, L.M., 2012. Immigration and Political Trust in Britain British Journal of Political Science. 42(1), 163-85 MCLAREN, LAUREN, 2012. Cross-National and Cross-Time Views of Immigration: Evidence from the Eurobarometer and International Social Survey Programme. In: GARY P. FREEMAN, RANDALL HANSEN, AND DAVID L. LEAL, ed., Immigration and Public Opinion Routledge. (In Press.)
Current Research
Dr McLaren has conducted research on public opinion toward European integration and immigration in Europe, as well as Turkey and the European Union. Her current research examines democratic consolidation and political development in Southern Europe, comparing Italy, Spain, and Turkey.
Current Research Projects
Immigration and Political Community in Europe
One of the main defining features of the modern state is its incorporation of notions of political and social community based on shared language, history, and myths. However, large numbers of citizens in modern states have come to believe that their communities are under threat from various modern forces, including migration. Using the European Social Survey and Eurobarometer polls, this project explores the extent to which threats posed by large-scale migration undermine national political communities by reducing trust in national political institutions.
Immigration and Political Community in Britain
This project also investigates the impact of immigration on trust in politics, but focuses on the specific case of Britain. The first component of the project explores cross-time changes in perceptions of immigration and the impact of these changes on attitudes toward government in Britain. The project also examines the impact of the mass media--particularly newspapers--on this relationship. The second major component of the project focuses on the individual-level micro-process of change in the connection between immigration and trust in government in the UK and draws upon multiple social surveys, including the British Social Attitudes Survey, the British Election Studies series of surveys, and the European Election Study.