Vincent Hopkins

Dr. Vince Hopkins is an Assistant Professor of Political Science (tenure track) at the University of British Columbia. He specializes in Canadian Politics, Behavioural Science, and Public Policy. Dr. Hopkins’s research focuses on the political and psychological barriers that prevent citizens from accessing public services. Understanding low take-up of social programs is vital to a well-functioning welfare state, with strong implications for democracy and civic inclusion. Dr. Hopkins is especially interested in the potential for governments to address these barriers using mixed methods, combining field/survey experiments, interviews, and participatory co-design. His work appears in venues such as Journal of Politics, Political Science Research and Methods, Political Research Quarterly, Policy Studies Journal, Behavioural Public Policy, International Migration Review, Canadian Journal of Political Science, and Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. As an applied researcher, Dr. Hopkins has over a decade of experience using behavioural and data science to improve policy. He previously worked as a Senior Behavioural Scientist for the British Columbia Government. Before that, he worked as a Policy Analyst with the Government of Canada.