About

Dr Michael Alexander de Percy FRSA FCILT MRSN is a political scientist, journalist, and political commentator. He is the Canberra Press Gallery Correspondent for The Spectator Australia, an Adjunct Associate Professor with the School of Government at the University of Canberra, and an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with the Federation University. 

Michael's qualifications include a PhD in Political Science (Australian National University), a Bachelor of Philosophy (Hons) (University of Canberra), and a Bachelor of Arts (Deakin University). 

Michael is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, where he received the Brigadier WJ Urquhart Trophy (Royal Australian Artillery Prize). He served on the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts from January 2022 to December 2025 and was formerly Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy.

Michael’s research explores comparative politics, historical institutionalism, government-business relations, and transport, telecommunications, and energy policy, and political leadership. His recent works include Australia in the Atomic Age (Melbourne University Press, 2024), COVID-19 and Foreign Aid (Routledge, 2023, with Viktor Jakupec and Max Kelly), and Road Pricing and Provision (ANU Press, 2018, with John Wanna). His research articles have appear in journals such as Policy Studies, Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, and Australian Journal of Social Issues.

His expert commentary has been published in The Australian, the Lowy Institute's The Interpreter, ABC's The Drum, The Canberra Times, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Crikey, The Spectator Australia, and The Conversation. 

Michael’s blog The Political Flâneur (ISSN 2652-8851) and podcast are available via his website www.politicalscience.com.au. You can connect with him on LinkedIn, X (twitter), Facebook, Muck Rack, and IMDB.

If you would like to support Michael's work, you can donate via Donorbox.