Björn Dressel's picture

Björn Dressel

Associate Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy

Qualifications

B Laws/BA Politics (Trier); MA International Relations, PhD (Johns Hopkins University)

Contact details

Björn Dressel is an Associate Professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy and inaugural Director of the ANU Philippines Institute. His research is concerned with issues of comparative constitutionalism, judicial politics and governance and public sector reform in Asia. He received his Ph.D. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where he also received his M.A. in the same field. In addition, Dr. Dressel holds a law degree from the University of Trier School of Law in Germany, where he specialized in International Law, European Union Law and Constitutional Law. He was the recipient of Australian Research Council’s Discovery Early Career Research Award (2013-2019) for his work on judicial politics in Southeast Asia, and he is currently Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council Discovery project on “Judicial Loyalties and Resistance in Southeast Asia” (DP230102553, 20123-2026).
Over his academic career, Dr. Dressel has been a visiting scholar at the Asia Foundation (Manila) in the Philippines; the Centre for Excellence for International Courts (iCourts) in Denmark; the Centre for Asian and Pacific Studies (Seikei University) in Japan; the Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS) in Thailand; the Institute of Economic Development, Growth & Equity in South Africa, and the Institute for Administration of Justice, College of Law, University of the Philippines. He has also been a consultant for the World Bank, Brookings and Chemonics International, and a Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Professorial Lecturer in International Development, as well as an Associate Lecturer at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Dr. Dressel continues to provide advisory services for international development agencies and governments in areas of public financial management, governance and rule of law reform. He also engages as an associate editor for the Asia & Pacific Policy Studies Journal.

His work is published in a range of international journals, including Governance; Administration & Society; International Political Science Review, and Pacific Review – many are available at his Academia and ResearchGate websites. He is also the editor of The Judicialization of Politics in Asia (Routledge, 2012) as well as co-editor of From Aquino II to Duterte (2010-2018). Change, Continuity – and Rupture (ISEAS 2019) and Politics and Constitutions in Southeast Asia (Routledge, 2016). You can follow him on Twitter @BjoernDressel.

Research interests

  • Comparative Politics and Constitutionalism
  • Governance and Public Sector Reform
  • Public Finance in Emerging Markets
  • Research Design and Methodology
  • Regional Expertise: Southeast Asia; sub-Saharan Africa

PhD supervision

I am interested in supervising PhD students working on governance issues in Southeast Asia with particular focus on constitutional and judicial politics, as well issues of public sector reform from a wider political economy perspective.

Teaching

  • Evidence and Analysis in Public Policy (POGO 8500)
  • Research Design for Political Research, PhD Level (POGO 9096)
  • Research Methods (POGO 8096)
  • Political Economy of Governance Reform (POGO 8046)

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