Inspiring People
William Daniel
Investigating how political institutions interact with individual backgrounds
Dr William Daniel is an Associate Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations with research expertise in the politics of representation, especially the identities of politicians, including gender and sexuality.
Follow what you are passionate in, but also explore how to put that passion to good use
How would you explain your research?
I am fascinated by politicians and what makes them tick as individual people. I am convinced that our personal background oftentimes manifests itself in important, yet perhaps unexpected, ways in our professional working lives. Politicians are no different in that respect! So, most of what I research is how people’s individual backgrounds and identities influence their (not always!) strategic political behaviour.
Typically, that means that I study political careers, but I can do that in a lot of different ways. Sometimes, I do this by looking at politicians’ behaviour in office (what they work on and who they work with, usually in different parliaments). Other times, this has to do with how they behave in elections (and especially how they campaign online). Whatever the case that I am exploring, my research findings are almost always relevant for understanding how background traits and identities (typically gender and sexuality, but also professional experience or subject expertise) fit into broader political careers.
What inspired you to pursue this area?
As an American colleague who first studied French at undergraduate and then spent a few years of my undergraduate and postgraduate education in various places across Europe, I have always been fascinated by the ‘unity in diversity’ that is present in European politics.
As a comparative political scientist, I am persuaded that different kinds of political institutions (and by that, I mean different ‘rules of the game’) affect how politicians behave in their jobs. And, as a gay man, I have long been sensitive to how our personal identities can influence our professional lives. So, I bring a bit of all of that to my research. I want to observe how individuals react to what’s going on around them, especially as they carry out their jobs as political representatives
How will your research affect the average person?
As I learn more about how political institutions interact with individual backgrounds, I see how much institutional design choices can matter for political outcomes. One area that I have done a lot of work on recently is in gender and political representation. With my colleague Dr Andrea Aldrich (Yale University), I’ve just finished writing a book on how gender quotas influence political careers in Europe. One of the findings that we highlight is how by requiring elections to be more gender equal in terms of candidate selection, better-quality politicians are selected by both political parties and voters to do the job; they can then advance in their careers more quickly. This finding is true for both men and women politicians, which is really important, because it speaks to how gender equality can be good for everyone.
This past spring, we were privileged to be able to submit our research as evidence to the Welsh Senedd, which is currently considering whether to add gender quotas to their own election laws. It was hugely gratifying to see our work cited heavily in their discussions. My hope is that by learning about best practices in institutional design from around the world, we can address other important challenges. For me, I am especially passionate about promoting the equal representation of people from diverse backgrounds and identities.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Follow what you are passionate in, but also explore how to put that passion to good use. I was told early on in my career as a student that I shouldn’t study French, because it was not as ‘useful’ as other languages. I was then told that I should not study European politics as a graduate student, because there were more jobs available to those who studied more ‘popular’ topics. I did not take that advice. And I am glad that I did not, as being bored by my own work would be disastrous for both my productivity and the quality of my research.
That said, I did recognise the need to pick up other skillsets that would be in demand along the way, whatever my day job turned out to be. That attention to upskilling has helped me to become a better writer, a better methodologist, and a better teacher. I have grown in confidence as a public speaker and as a leader. I have also learned a range of specific research skills (especially in data science!) that have found a home in my own work, but also in supporting the work of others. Balancing what I’m passionate about with what employers are looking for has made me more personally and professionally fulfilled than I might otherwise have been.
What’s the biggest challenge in your field?
As a political scientist, I am very invested in making sure that our work is transparent, rigorous, and able to be validated and replicated by others. However, access to data on individuals and their backgrounds raises a lot of interesting ethical questions about personal privacy that we need to be mindful of. On the other hand, a lot of my work touches on social media, which is where a rapidly-evolving landscape where so much of our data now lives. Who owns these data? Who can access them? Do I have a right to control the data that I produce, once it is in the public domain? These are really important questions to think about, and they also have a huge impact on the way that we do research!