Dan Honig

Dr. Dan Honig is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at both University College London (UCL) and Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. He holds dual affiliations within UCL's School of Public Policy and Department of Political Science. His primary research explores how organizational structure and management practices influence public service delivery, with a focus on bureaucratic motivation, citizen-state relationships, and mission-driven approaches to governance. He is also a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development, a fellow of Harvard’s Building State Capability Programme, and an editorial board member of the Journal of Public Policy.

Dr. Honig earned a BA from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He previously worked as an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS and held visiting appointments at Thammasat University (Bangkok) and Leiden University (Netherlands). His career includes roles as a special assistant and advisor to Liberia’s Ministers of Finance, as well as leading a nonprofit in East Timor supporting post-conflict youth through agricultural entrepreneurship.

His research emphasizes the importance of 'managing for empowerment' in public institutions, arguing that bureaucratic motivation and agency autonomy are critical to effective governance. His recent book Mission Driven Bureaucrats (Oxford University Press, 2024) challenges compliance-centric models, advocating for human-centric approaches. He is Principal Investigator of the ERC-funded 'Relational State Capacity' project, which examines social infrastructure as a key component of state capacity.

Dr. Honig has been honored in multiple influential lists, including the '100 most influential academics in government' (2021) and '50 most influential researchers shaping 21st century politicians' (2022). His work bridges academic research and practical policy, with a focus on international development, public administration, and organizational behavior. Beyond academia, he collaborates with NGOs, governments, and international organizations to improve institutional effectiveness through better management practices.

He is affiliated with Georgetown’s Better Government Lab and serves as a Senior Fellow at Artha Global. His research spans Africa, Asia, and Latin America, reflecting his global experience in policy and development work. Though temporarily on leave from teaching due to ERC grant commitments, he previously taught courses like 'Improving Public Policy Implementation' at UCL.