Academy Fellow

Professor Sullivan is a leading global scholar on the theory and practice of state-society interactions in contemporary governance. She has advanced the fields of public policy and administration and political science in three main ways: on collaboration in policymaking; on public participation and democracy; and via interpretivist methods. 

Sullivan has fundamentally changed the study of collaboration and public policy through her theorizing of ‘collaborative performance’, her theoretical and empirical advances in understanding ‘agency’ in collaboration, and her path-finding empirical work on the practice of cross sector collaboration, including building collaborative capacity, enacting horizontal decision-making and accountability, and identifying and managing collaborative power relations. Sullivan has also been at the forefront of developing our understanding of the theory and practice of the ‘responsive democratic state’, and its potential and limits. Her work has advanced conceptualisations of ‘the public’ in public policy, added theoretical and empirical nuance to the operation of power-relations in public participation, and identified new approaches to analysing public participation. Further, Sullivan’s work with interpretivist methods in the analysis of public policy has enabled policy makers and practitioners to see the development and application of public policy in new ways and helped them understand the potential and limits of a ‘what works’ approach to policy making.

Professor Sullivan’s career is distinguished by an enduring commitment to building bridges between research and practice to improve public policy making and professional practice and enhance public understanding of the value of political studies. She has designed and led multiple cross-sector collaborative institutions, worked closely with governments and public service organisations at all levels to embed evidence-based reform, sponsored national and global programs of Indigenous led research and education, and enabled new forms of public engagement with research.

Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (UK)

Member of the Australian Political Studies Association

Member of the UK Political Studies Association

1. Sullivan, H. (2024). Collaborating in future states—Contextual instability, paradigmatic remaking, and public policy. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12661

2.Trijsburg, I., Sullivan, H., Park, E., Bonotti, M., Costello, P., Nwokora, Z., Pejic, D., Peucker, M. & Ridge, W. (2024) Disinformation in the City: Response Playbook. The University of Melbourne. DOI 10.26188/26866972

3. Sullivan, H (2022) Collaboration and Public Policy. Agency in the Pursuit of Public Purpose Palgrave, shortlisted for The UK Political Studies Association WJM Mackenzie Prize for the best book published in political studies

4. Roberts, A., Resh,W., Basu, R., Onyango, G., Sullivan, H., Peci, A., Kapucu, N., Schomaker, R. and V Mele, (2023) Roundtable: How do We Connect Public Administration and Human Rights?, Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, https://doi.org/10.1093/ppmgov/gvad010

5. Davies, J. S., Blanco, I., Bua, A., Chorianopoulos, I., Cortina-Oriol, M., Feandeiro, A., Gaynor, N., Gleeson, B., Griggs, S., Hamel, P., Henderson, H., Howarth, D., Keil, R., Pill, M., Salazar, Y. and H. Sullivan (2022) New Developments in Urban Governance: Rethinking Collaboration in the Age of Austerity, Bristol, Policy Press