Academy Fellow

As a scholar of political parties and democracy, my research is motivated by a concern for the future of parties as representative and participatory institutions. My most significant contribution has been to demonstrate how the relationship between citizens and parties is changing and to show how parties are evolving in response. With the goal of increasing parties’ capacity to respond to policy and political challenges, this research has been crucial at a time when satisfaction with – and trust in – political parties is at historic lows.

My work on organisational change within political parties has led the field in developing new ways of understanding party democracy in times of technological and social transformation. I was one of the first to examine the shift towards engaging supporters rather than members and implementing US-style primaries, both of which have now developed into significant areas of scholarly inquiry.

I have been involved in numerous international collaborative projects on political parties funded by the EU, UKRI and NSF. I have been commissioned by organisations such as the Committee for Economic Development Australia (CEDA) to undertake election analysis, conducted research with state and federal electoral commissions, appeared before parliamentary inquiries and have been retained as an international expert witness on political party funding. 

Pro Vice Chancellor (Research) University of Technology Sydney. 

Anika Gauja (2017) Party Reform: The Causes, Challenges and Consequences of Organizational Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Anika Gauja, Marian Sawer and Jill Sheppard (eds) (2023) Watershed: The 2022 Australian Federal Election. Canberra: ANU Press.

Anika Gauja, Karina Kosiara-Pedersen and Kristina Weissenbach (2025) Party Membership and Affiliation: Realising party linkage and community in the twenty first century. Party Politics 31(2): 207-216.

Richard Reid, Carolyn Hendriks and Anika Gauja (2024) Representing rural Australia: Political Representation and Rural Discontent. Australian Journal of Political Science 59(3): 255-271.

Anika Gauja (2021) Digital Democracy: Big Technology and the Regulation of Politics. University of New South Wales Law Journal 44(3): 959-981.