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Dr. P.C.N. (Peter) Tangney

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Programme group: Transnational Configurations, Conflict and Governance
Area of expertise: Evidence-based Policy, Experts, Environmental Governance
Visiting address
  • Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
Postal address
  • Postbus 15578
    1001 NB Amsterdam
Contact details
Social media
  • Profile

    Peter's research focuses on the roles for evidence and expertise in public policymaking and governance. 

    He is coordinator of the Public Policy & Governance teaching programmes (undergraduate and postgraduate) in the Department of Political Science at UvA.

    Expertise and research fields 

    • Evidence-based Policy
    • Experts
    • Environmental Governance
  • Research
    Awarded the biennial Crisp Prize 2018 by the Australian Political Studies Association

    My research sits at the intersection of political science, policy studies and science & technology studies. I have spent a lot of my research career examining the knowledge politics of climate change and the environmental policy and governance practices where tensions between politics, expertise and evidence arise. 

    In recent years, my focus has been drawn to the interdisciplinary study of so-called evidence-based policymaking. Although this term is synonymous with rationalist policy analysis, I'm interested in interpretivist insights, especially from adjacent social science disciplines that may bring clarity to this topic and advance policy studies.

    I'm also increasingly interested in the impact that genAI tools may have on the policy knowledge systems of contemporary governance institutions and their evidence-based practices and outputs.

     

    Research Grants:

    • Tangney, P (2025) "Operationalising Lasswell: Policy Sciences for Evidence-based Policy research". Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) - Impulse Grant
    • Fitton, J, Tangney, P, McCullagh, D, Gault, J (2022) “Climate Resilience - a survey and tool to assess and inform government climate action plans”. Environmental Protection Agency of Ireland – Addressing Climate Change Evidence Needs grant call [national competitive award].
    • Tangney, P, Fitton, J (2022) “Co-produced applications for equitable adaptation”. Enterprise Ireland – EU Horizon Proposal Preparation Support Grant. [national competitive award].
    • Tangney, P, Clarke, B, Star, C (2021) “Developing a multilevel governance network map to enhance emergency preparation and disaster prevention in South Australia”. Australian Commonwealth Government Department of Defence – Force Exploration Branch.
    • Star, C, Tangney, P, Jones, M, McClaren, H, Nettle, C (2020) “Ensuring effective outcomes and implementation for climate adaptation policy: reviewing a co-designed, stakeholder-engaged, evidence-based approach to decision-making”. Adelaide Resilient South Local Government Association and Flinders University.
    • Clarke, B, Star, C, Tangney, P (2020) “Integrated assessment of local governments’ coastal adaptation planning and practice”. South Australian State Department for Environment & Water and Flinders University.
    • Star, C, Tangney, P, Newman, J, Clarke, B (2019) “Developing policy expertise and a toolkit for evidence-based coordination of national climate resilience using a co-design professional development approach”. Australian Commonwealth Government Department of Defence – Strategic Policy Grants Program – [national competitive award].
  • Teaching

    Current courses:

  • Publications

    2025

    2024

    2023

    • Tangney, P., Star, C., Sutton, Z., & Clarke, B. (2023). Navigating collaborative governance: Network ignorance and the performative planning of South Australia's emergency management. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 96, Article 103983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103983 [details]

    2022

    2021

    • Tangney, P. (2021). Are “Climate Deniers” Rational Actors? Applying Weberian Rationalities to Advance Climate Policymaking. Environmental Communication, 15(8), 1077-1091. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2021.1942117
    • Tangney, P., Nettle, C., Clarke, B., Newman, J., & Star, C. (2021). Climate security in the Indo-Pacific: a systematic review of governance challenges for enhancing regional climate resilience. Climatic Change, 167(3-4), Article 40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03197-8

    2020

    • Tangney, P. (2020). Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't: The impact of economic rationalist imperatives on the adaptive capacity of public infrastructure in Brisbane, Australia and Cork, Ireland. Environmental Policy and Governance, 30(6), 359-372. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.1893
    • Tangney, P. (2020). Does risk-based decision-making present an 'epistemic trap' for climate change policymaking? Evidence and Policy, 16(4), 661-672. https://doi.org/10.1332/174426419X15577476002116
    • Tangney, P. (2020). Understanding climate change as risk: a review of IPCC guidance for decision-making. Journal of Risk Research, 23(11), 1424-1439. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2019.1673801

    2019

    • Akerlof, K., Tyler, C., Foxen, S. E., Heath, E., Gual Soler, M., Allegra, A., Cloyd, E. T., Hird, J. A., Nelson, S. M., Nguyen, C. T., Gonnella, C. J., Berigan, L. A., Abeledo, C. R., Al-Yakoub, T. A., Andoh, H. F., dos Santos Boeira, L., van Boheemen, P., Cairney, P., Cook-Deegan, R., ... Tangney, P. (2019). A collaboratively derived international research agenda on legislative science advice. Palgrave Communications, 5(1), Article 108. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0318-6
    • Tangney, P. (2019). Between conflation and denial–the politics of climate expertise in Australia. Australian Journal of Political Science, 54(1), 131-149. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2018.1551482

    2018

    • Tangney, P. C. N. (2018). Climate Crisis and the Democratic Prospect: Participatory Governance in Sustainable Communities, by Frank Fischer, Oxford University Press, 2017. Environmental Politics, 27(3), 572-573. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2018.1443765

    2017

    • Tangney, P. (2017). Climate adaptation policy and evidence: Understanding the tensions between politics and expertise in public policy. Taylor and Francis Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315269252
    • Tangney, P. (2017). The UK's 2012 Climate Change Risk Assessment: How the rational assessment of science develops policy-based evidence. Science and Public Policy, 44(2), 225-234. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scw055

    2016

    • Tangney, P., & Howes, M. (2016). The politics of evidence-based policy: A comparative analysis of climate adaptation in Australia and the UK. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 34(6), 1115-1134. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263774X15602023

    2015

    • Howes, M., Tangney, P., Reis, K., Grant-Smith, D., Heazle, M., Bosomworth, K., & Burton, P. (2015). Towards networked governance: improving interagency communication and collaboration for disaster risk management and climate change adaptation in Australia. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 58(5), 757-776. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2014.891974
    • Tangney, P. (2015). Brisbane City Council's Q100 assessment: How climate risk management becomes scientised. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 14, 496-503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.10.001

    2013

    • Heazle, M., Tangney, P., Burton, P., Howes, M., Grant-Smith, D., Reis, K., & Bosomworth, K. (2013). Mainstreaming climate change adaptation: An incremental approach to disaster risk management in Australia. Environmental Science and Policy, 33, 162-170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2013.05.009
    • Howes, M., Grant-Smith, D., Reis, K., Bosomworth, K., Tangney, P. C. N., Heazle, M., McEvoy, D., & Burton, P. (2013). Public policy, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation. In Australia and New Zealand Public Policy Network Conference 2013 https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/56632

    2010

    • Rowsell, V. F., Tangney, P., Hunt, C., & Voulvoulis, N. (2010). Estimating levels of micropollutants in municipal wastewater. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 206(1-4), 357-368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0112-y

    2017

    2013

    2025

    • McGlade, K., Troltzsch, J., Burgos Cuevas, N., Tarpey, J., Pena, N., Tangney, P. C. N., Strout, J. M., van der Horst, S., Van Veldhoven, F., Mysiak, J., Endendijk, T., Winter, G., & Brolsma, R. (2025). Guidelines for climate service tools: Deliverable 3.5 of Horizon 2020 project REACHOUT. Ecologic Institute. https://www.ecologic.eu/20119

    2023

    • Clarke, B., Wongthong, P., Tangney, P., Sutton, Z., Nettle, C., & Star, C. (2023). An assessment of the integration of coastal hazard risk into local government strategic and adaptation planning in South Australia: Volume 2: Key stakeholder perspectives. Climate and Sustainability Policy Research Group. [details]

    2021

    2020

    2016

    2020

    Prize / grant

    • Tangney, P. (2018). Australian Political Studies Association - Crisp Prize.
    • Tangney, P. (2017). Flinders University Vice Chancellor's Award for Early Career Researcher.
    • Tangney, P. (2017). Geoff Anderson Prize for Best Paper - ANZ Public Policy Network.
    • Tangney, P. (2006). Arcadis Water Management Prize - Imperial College London.
    This list of publications is extracted from the UvA-Current Research Information System. Questions? Ask the library or the Pure staff of your faculty / institute. Log in to Pure to edit your publications. Log in to Personal Page Publication Selection tool to manage the visibility of your publications on this list.
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