Lisa Hill

Lisa Hill is an Australian political scientist. she is professor of politics at the University of Adelaide, and has previously held positions at the University of Sydney and the Australian National University.

Early life and education Hill studied at the University of Tasmania and was then a Rhodes Scholar at University College, Oxford University, England.

Political work Hill is an advocate for compulsory voting, pointing out that in Australia (where voting is compulsory) turnout has remained steady at about 95 per cent, whilst in voluntary voting systems around the world turnout has been on the decline. She has estimated that were Australia to introduce voluntary voting, turnout would decline to 60 per cent. and British Electoral Commissions, as well as in the popular media, with her ideas being explored in such publications as Slate and the International Business Times.

She co-authored Compulsory Voting: For and Against (Cambridge University Press, 2014) with political philosopher Jason Brennan, who took the opposing side of the debate. The book has been called "the best and most thorough recent contribution to the literature on this subject" by Professor Ilya Somin of George Mason University School of Law.

As of 2017, Hill's work focused on challenging proponents of epistemic democracy, such as Brennan, who advocate for a political system in which an educated elite is given more political power. Such proponents argue that such recent, arguably undesirable, election outcomes such as the election of Donald Trump and Brexit would have been prevented under an epistocracy; Hill suggests that this is empirically incorrect, and argues that we should instead be focused on "how to deepen and expand" the franchise in order to improve our democracies.

Hill is also a founding member of the research committee of the Centre for Public Integrity, an independent think tank dedicated to preventing corruption, protecting the integrity of our accountability institutions, and eliminating undue influence of money in politics in Australia.

Research interests Hill's research interests include electoral law, Australian politics, history of political thought, social, political and economic thought of the Scottish Enlightenment, the development and pre-history of liberalism, classical political economy, political corruption, and classical Stoicism. She is particularly known for her work in support of compulsory voting.

Recognition Hill was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2011.

Personal life Hill was the lead singer of The New Zekers. She paints for fun, and was the illustrator of the cover of Elleke Boehmer's 2005 book Colonial and Postcolonial Literature.

Select publications

Books

Hill, L., Max Douglass and Ravi Baltutis, 2022, Why and How to Regulate Political Disinformation, Londond/New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Hill, L. and Eden Blazejak, 2021. Classical Stoicism and the Western Political Tradition, Palgrave MacMillan. Hill, L 2019, Adam Smith's Pragmatic Liberalism: The Science of Welfare, Palgrave MacMillan, London/New York Malkopoulou, A. and Hill L. (eds). 2017. Equality and Representation, London: Routledge. Buchan, B & Hill, L 2014, The Intellectual History of Political Corruption, Palgrave Macmillan, London/New York. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 167 libraries. Brennan, J & Hill, L 2014, Compulsory Voting: For and Against, Cambridge University Press, New York and Cambridge. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 194 libraries.

Encyclopedia articles Hill, L 2009, ‘Civil Society Theory: Adam Smith’, in International Encyclopedia of Civil Society, eds. H. K. Anheier & S. Toepler, Springer, New York. Hill, L 2009, ‘Adam Ferguson’, in Encyclopedia of Political Theory, ed. M. Bevir, Sage, London. Hill, L 2007, ‘Compulsory Voting’, in The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics, eds. B. Galligan & W. Roberts, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Hill, L 2007, ‘Citizen Initiated Referenda’, in The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics, eds. B. Galligan & W. Roberts, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Media activities

2019. July 31. Radio Interview and Podcast with Walled Aly and Scott Stephens for 'Minefield', Radio National. Topic: Should the Voting Age be Lowered? 2019. June 11. ABC Radio Adelaide interview (With Eden Blazejak) on Hedonism and Epicureanism.

Other

Hill, L 2019, 'We Asked Five Experts: Should Australia Lower the Voting Age to 16?', The Conversation, March 27 Hill, L & Louth, J 2018, 'Electoral Inclusion Among South Australian People Experiencing Homelessness: the Work Ahead', ERRN Working Paper Series. van Ham, C, Hill, L & Chappell L 2017, 'The Things Australia Can Do to be a Human Rights Hero', The Conversation Hill, L 2016, 'Factcheck Q&A: how unusual is compulsory, and do 90% of New Zealanders vote without it?', The Conversation Hill, L 2016, 'Election Explainer: Why Do I have to Vote Anyway?', The Conversation Hill, L 2015, 'Compulsory Voting, much like democracy, beats the alternatives', The Conversation Hill, L 2011, 'What We've Seen in Australia with Mandatory Voting', New York Times, November 7