Dr Rebecca Baker (She/Her)

Rebecca is an Associate Lecturer in Politics and International Relations and previously had an additional role within Project Enhance, working on the digitalisation of teaching and learning. Rebecca teaches political theory, contemporary politics, International Relations and Public Policy at undergraduate level, as well as supervising students in their undergraduate and Masters dissertations.

Her research interests focus on empirical and conceptual democratic theory and the interaction between these. This includes elections, representation, access to governance, participation and discourses of democracy. Rebecca’s PhD work explored how the liberal dominance in conceptualisation of democracy within state apparatus can lead to exclusion from democratic life, and the impact of this on young people and their politics.

Methodologically, Rebecca is a mixed methods researcher, prioritizing the addition of contextualising qualitative-based narratives to quantitative data.

Biography:

After leaving the Southwest to study in London I soon returned to teach and conduct research closer to the sea.

A PGCE qualified lecturer, I previously worked as an Associate Lecturer in Politics at the University of Plymouth, teaching International Relations Theory and Democracy and Democratisation. Before moving into academia, I was a Lecturer and Associate Examiner in English and International Relations History, receiving awards for Services to Examining and ‘Outstanding’ ratings for my teaching practice.