Jonathan Benson

Jonathan Benson is a Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Manchester and a member of the Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT). He previously held a Hallsworth Research Fellowship and taught at King’s College London and Utrecht University. His research focuses on democratic theory, political economy, and political epistemology, addressing challenges such as democratic scepticism, voter competence, and political polarization. He has published in journals like the American Political Science Review and authored the book Intelligent Democracy: Answering the New Democratic Scepticism (Oxford UP, 2024).

His work integrates interdisciplinary perspectives from politics, philosophy, and economics (PPE), emphasizing epistemic justifications for democracy and systemic interactions among institutions like elections, deliberation, and sortition. Recent projects analyze polarization’s impact on democratic diversity and the role of markets in governance. He has received awards including the Faculty of Humanities Award for Distinguished Achievement (2019) and the Hallsworth Fellowship (2022).

Benson is involved in teaching political theory and interdisciplinary PPE education, supervising PhD students, and organizing events like the Misinformation, Expertise and Challenges to Democracy conference. His research contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through analyses of governance and democratic resilience.