Prof. Dr. Mark Bevir


Honorary Professor in Governance

Mark Bevir is a Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for British Studies, University of California, Berkeley and a Distinguished Research Professor in the College of Arts and Humanities, Swansea University. Born and raised in London, Mark received his doctorate from the University of Oxford. Before moving to Berkeley, he held posts at the Universities of Madras, India, and Newcastle, UK. He has held visiting fellowships in Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, the UK, and the US.  He has done policy work for governmental and non-governmental organizations in Europe and the US as well as the United Nations. Mark's research interests in political theory include moral philosophy, political philosophy, and the history of political thought. His work on public policy focuses on organization theory, democratic theory, and governance. His methodological interests cover philosophy of social science, history of social science, and interpretive analysis. In much of his research, Mark uses philosophy and history to argue that social science is inherently historical and interpretive, and that this view of social science encourages more democratic policymaking. Recently Mark has been using interpretive theory to analyze current patterns of governance and some democratic alternatives. He has focused on public sector reform, democracy promotion, foreign policy, and security. In April 2013, he was appointed as honorary professor in Governance at UNU-MERIT.




Selected publications by Mark Bevir


Articles (journal, professional, popular)
Bevir, Mark & Kai Yui Samuel Chan, 2021, What is a deliberative system? A tale of two ontologies, European Journal of Political Theory, Online, DOI: 10.1177/14748851211034106, More information
Bevir, Mark, 2021, London: a city of humanism and power, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Online, DOI: 10.1080/13698230.2021.1881739, More information
Ayres, S. , Mark Bevir & Kevin Orr, 2021, Editorial A new research agenda for decentering public leadership, International Journal of Public Leadership, 17(3): 209-221, DOI: 10.1108/IJPL-08-2021-114, More information
Ashcroft, Richard T. & Mark Bevir, 2021, Brexit and the Myth of British National Identity, British Politics, 16: 117-132, DOI: 10.1057/s41293-021-00167-7, More information


Book chapters
Bevir, Mark, 2021, Theosophy, Cultural Nationalism, and Home Rule, in: Tim Rudbog and Erik Sand, Imagining the East: The Early Theosophical Society, Oxford University Press, UK, DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190853884.003.0015, More information


UNU-MERIT