David Runciman is Professor of Politics and Head of the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. His research interests include late-nineteenth and twentieth century political thought; theories of the state and of political representation; and various aspects of contemporary political philosophy and contemporary politics. His books include The Politics of Good Intentions and Political Hypocrisy (both Princeton). He writes regularly about politics for the London Review of Books and other newspapers and he presents the podcast Talking Politics.