Research

PhD Research:
While understandings of the UK's territorial governance have been significantly enhanced since the 1980s, not least thanks to the work of Bulpitt in the 1980s and James Mitchell in recent years, much of this work has lacked a sufficient normative dimension. This study seeks to build on Bulpitt's ideas of a centre and periphery relationship defined by considerations of high and low politics and Mitchell's argument that the UK is a state of unions, by arguing that this state of unions should also be seen as a state of unionisms. Taking England and Wales as case studies, this research will highlight the heterogenous nature of unionist culture in both nations and across the UK as a whole, underpinned by the hypothesis that the absence of a holistic approach to territorial governance in the UK is underpinned by a pragmatic and disinterested centre with an outdated belief in unitary sovereignty that is itself buffeted by a lack of a homogenous British unionism.

Arrested Development? The Federalism of the Liberal Democrats: This research project has focused on a critical analysis of the Liberal Democrats' ideological and organisational commitment to federalism and has so far produced the following papers:

• Evans, A. (2013). Research Note: Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? The Position of the Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrats Within the Federal Liberal Democrats, Contemporary Wales, Vol. 26, 242-255
• Evans, A. (2013). The Squeezed Middle? The Liberal Democrats in Wales and Scotland: A post-Coalition Reassessment, Paper Presented to the 63rd PSA Annual Conference,
• Evans, A. (2013). The Illusionists? Federalism and the Liberal Democrats: An English Case Study,

More generally I have a broad research interest in questions of constitutional reform in Britain: including the English Question as well as Celtic devolution, British politics and political history."

Education:

2008-2011 BScEcon Politics, Cardiff University (Graduated with first class honours)
2011-2012 MScEcon Welsh Government and Politics, Cardiff University (Distinction)
2012- PhD

Prizes and Scholarships:

• 2012 Won a President's Research Scholarship from Cardiff University to conduct PhD research on Law, Policy and Politics in Wales.
• Awarded a Pantyfedwen Foundation Scholarship for my masters study in 2011
• I was awarded the John Cross Prize in Politics in 2011 for having the highest average scores in my undergraduate Politics degree
• Awarded the Charles Morgan Award for the highest scores in Welsh History from First Year students at Cardiff University in June 2009.