Scholars
Sara Birch
Department of Political Economy, King's College London
Based in
United Kingdom
Europe
Sarah Birch is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Economy at King’s College London. Her current research interests include the political effects of extreme weather events and the institutionalization of enlightened foresight in democratic processes as a means of addressing climate change. She has published work in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, the European Journal of Political Research, the Journal of Peace Research, Environmental Politics and the Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy.
Focus areas of expertise
Public opinionPublications
Articles
Ferrán Martínez i Coma and Sarah Birch, 2025, ‘Why do Australians prefer some climate migrants over others? Salience is the answer’, Environmental Politics, forthcoming.
Sarah Birch, ‘Extreme Weather and Electoral Contention’, 2024, Journal of Peace Research, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/00223433241279379
Mate Subašić, Adam Fagan, Tomas Maltby and Sarah Birch, 2024, ‘Activism in the era of democratic backsliding: Explaining the efficacy of the clean-air campaigns in Poland’, Democratization 31(8): 1866-89.
Tomas Maltby, Sarah Birch, Adam Fagan and Mate Subašić, 2024, ‘What is the Role of Activism in Air Pollution Politics? Understanding Policy Change in Poland’, Environment and Planning C 42(8): 1332-51.
Sarah Birch, 2024, ‘Voting for the Future: Electoral Institutions and the Time Horizons of Democracy’, Political Studies Review 22(4): 762-83. Shortlisted for the Best Paper Published in 2023 award.
Sarah Birch and Ferran Martínez i Coma, 2023, ‘Natural Disasters and the Limits of Electoral Clientelism: Evidence from Honduras’, Electoral Studies 85: 102651.
Sarah Birch, 2023, ‘The Electoral Benefits of Environmental Position-Taking: Floods and Electoral Behaviour in England 2010-2019’, European Journal of Political Research, 62(1): 95-117.
Sarah Birch, 2020, ‘Political Polarization and Environmental Attitudes’, Environmental Politics 29(4): 697-718.