Professor Duncan McDonnell

I have been Matthew Flinders Professor in Political Science since September 2026. Before that, I worked at Griffith University in Brisbane and the European University Institute in Florence. I'm originally from Dún Laoghaire, a little jewel by the sea in Dublin, Ireland.

My current research focuses on political parties, the populist radical right, and youth wings. I'm particularly interested in what goes on inside parties. To understand this, I use interviews and surveys, getting politicians and party members to tell me about their experiences, motivations and beliefs.

Over the years, I've interviewed hundreds of radical right politicians and grassroots party members across 18 countries. I also lead the YOUMEM project, which has surveyed thousands of members of mainstream political party youth wings in six countries. Much of my work explores how people become politically active, what keeps them involved, and how parties shape their members (and vice versa).

I've written several books and published widely in leading academic journals. My latest book, Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right, was published by Oxford University Press in June 2026. It examines an area of party politics that has received surprisingly little attention, despite the crucial role youth wings play in developing the representatives and leaders of tomorrow.

My research has been cited over 7,000 times, and I've secured around $4 million in competitive research funding and fellowships from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the European Union, the Swedish Research Council, and other international bodies.

Recently, Sofia Ammassari, Ferran Martinez i Coma and I were awarded over $825,000 by the ARC for a Discovery Project, Generation-Z engagement with political parties, beginning in January 2027. We will investigate how young people today view and interact with political parties in an era when their relationship with traditional party politics is changing.

The Australian's 2025 Research Magazine named me Australia's leading university researcher in Political Science.

You can find out more about my research, publications and projects on my personal website.