Professor Dennis C. Grube

St Catharine's College
  • Professor of Politics and Public Policy
  • University Teaching Officer
Professor Dennis C. Grube

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About

Dennis C. Grube is a Professor of Politics and Public Policy. His research interests span public policy, political rhetoric, political and administrative leadership, and British political history. He was Acting Director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy in 2022-23, where he is also the research lead on political decision-making.

Dennis teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, and he was awarded the Aaron Rapport Teaching Prize in 2023. 

Prior to joining POLIS in September 2016, Dennis was Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow with the Institute for the Study of Social Change at the University of Tasmania. In 2013 he spent six months as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford and was Director of Griffith University's Master of Public Administration Program from 2010-2013. Dennis retains adjunct professorial appointments at the University of Tasmania and at Griffith University.

Research

Research interests

  • Political and administrative leadership
  • Political rhetoric
  • The Westminster system of government
  • The processes of public policy decision-making
  • Institutional memory

Key publications: 

Books

Articles and Book Chapters

  • Grube, D.C. (2023) ‘Politics and Politicisation: Bane or Boon Companion?’, in R. Shaw (ed) Handbook on Ministerial and Political Advisers, Edward Elgar, pp. 352-364.
  • Grube, D.C. and Killick, A. (2021) 'Groupthink, Polythink and the Challenges of Decision-making in Cabinet Government', Parliamentary Affairs. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsab047
  • Grube, D.C. (2020) ‘Not-Minister? Australia’s Bespoke System of Government’ in J.M. Lewis and Tiernan, A. (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Australian Politics. Oxford University Press.
  • Grube, D.C. (2020) ‘Constructivist Approaches to the Study of Political Executives’ in R.B. Andeweg, R. Elgie, L. Helms, J. Kaarbo and F. Müller-Rommel (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Political Executives. Oxford University Press, pp. 150-166.
  • Grube, D.C. (2017) ‘Transforming a Transactional Debate: Leadership and the Rhetorical Road to Brexit’, Social Alternatives, Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 12-17.
  • Corbett, J., Grube, D.C., Lovell, H. and Scott, R. (2017) ‘Singular Memory or Institutional Memories? Towards a Dynamic Approach’, Governance, 31(3): 555-573.
  • Marsh, I; Crowley, K., Grube, D.C and Eccleston, R. (2017) ‘Delivering Public Services: Locality, Learning, and Reciprocity in Place Based Practice’, Australian Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 76, No. 4, pp. 443-456.    
  • Grube, D.C. and van Acker, E. (2017) ‘Rhetorically Defining a Social Institution: How Leaders Have Framed Same-Sex Marriage’, Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 183-198.
  • Grimmer, M. and Grube, D.C. (2017) ‘Political Branding: A Consumer Perspective on Australian Political Parties’, Party Politics, available in online first, DOI: 10.1177/1354068817710585 
  • Grube, D.C. (2017) ‘Civil Servants, Political History and the Interpretation of Traditions’, The Historical Journal, Vol. 60, No. 1, pp. 173-196.
  • Grube, D.C. (2017) 'Rules, Prudence and Public Value: Public Servants and Social Media in Comparative Perspective', Government and Opposition, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 75-99.
  • Grube, D.C. and Howard, C. (2016) ‘Promiscuously Partisan? Public Service Impartiality and Responsiveness in Westminster Systems.’ Governance, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 517-533.
  • Grube, D.C. and Howard, C. (2016) ‘Is the Westminster System Broken Beyond Repair?’, Governance, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 467-481.
  • Grube, D.C. (2016) 'Sticky Words? Towards a Theory of Rhetorical Path Dependency', Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 530-545 (Winner 2017 Mayer Prize for Outstanding Article of the year, Australian Political Studies Association).
  • Grube, D.C. (2015) ‘Back to the Future: Rediscovering the Lost Arts of the Victorian Mandarin’, Parliamentary Affairs, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 708-728.
  • Grube, D.C. (2015) 'Responsibility to be Enthusiastic?  Public Servants and the Public Face of "Promiscuous Partisanship"', Governance, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 305-320. 
  • Widmaier, W. and D.C. Grube. (2015) 'Presidents, Prime Ministers and Policy Rhetoric: The "Credibility Gaps" of Woodrow Wilson and Kevin Rudd in the League of Nations and Climate Change Debates', Political Studies, Vol. 63, No. 2, pp. 336-352.
  • Grube, D.C. (2014) 'An Invidious Position? The Public Dance of the Promiscuous Partisan', The Political Quarterly, Vol. 85, No. 4, pp. 420-427.
  • Grube, D.C. (2014) 'Administrative Learning or Political Blaming? Public Servants, Parliamentary Committees and the Drama of Public Accountability', Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 221-236. (Winner 2015 Mayer Prize for Outstanding Article of the year, Australian Political Studies Association).
  • Grube, D.C. (2014) ‘Rhetorical Path Dependency’, in R. Walter and J. Uhr (eds) Australian Political Rhetoric, (Canberra: ANU Press).
  • Grube, D.C. (2013) 'In Search of Society? The Limitations of Citizen-centred Governance', The Political Quarterly, Vol. 84, No. 3, pp. 371-379.
  • Grube, D.C. (2013) 'Public Voices from Anonymous Corridors: The Public Face of the Public Service in a Westminster System', Canadian Public Administration, Vol. 56, No. 1, pp.  3-25.
  • Grube, D.C. (2012) ‘Prime Ministers and Political Narratives for Policy Change: Towards a Heuristic’, Policy and Politics, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 569-586.
  • Grube, D.C. (2012) ‘A Very Public Search for Public Value: “Rhetorical Secretaries” in Westminster Jurisdictions’, Public Administration, Vol. 90, No. 2, pp. 445-465.
  • Grube, D.C. (2011) ‘How can Britishness be re-made?’, The Political Quarterly, Vol. 82, No. 4, pp. 628-635.
  • Grube, D.C. (2011) 'What the Secretary Said Next: "Public Rhetorical Leadership" in the Australian Public Service', Australian Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 70, No. 2, pp. 115-130.
  • Grube, D.C. (2011) ‘Speech Cycle? “Election-defining rhetoric” in Westminster democracies’, Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 35-52.
  • Grube, D.C. (2010) ‘The Rhetorical Framing of Policy Intervention’, Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 45, No.4, pp. 559-578.
  • Grube, D.C. (2007) ‘Religion, Power and Parliament: Rothschild and Bradlaugh Revisited’, History, Vol. 92, No. 1, pp. 21-38. 

Book Reviews

  • Grube, D.C. (2014) 'Languages of Politics in Nineteenth-Century Britain', ed. D. Craig and J. Thompson', Journal of British Studies, Vol. 53, No. 3., pp. 796-797.

Other publications: 

Teaching and supervision

Teaching: 

Undergraduate – contributes to:

  • Pol22 – The Politics of Public Policy
  • Part 1A - Evidence and Argument (History and Politics tripos).

Postgraduate

  • Teaches several core modules on the MPhil in Public Policy, and a module on ‘Rhetorical Leadership’ for the MPhil in Politics and International Studies

Awards