Colin Anfield Hughes is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n academic specializing in electoral politics and government.

He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Columbia University and his Ph.D from the London School of Economics. In 1966, along with John S. Western

John Western

John Stuart Western was an Australian academic and author.He received his B.A. and M.A. and his Diploma of Social Studies from the University of Melbourne, and his Ph.D from Columbia University in 1959. In 1966, along with Colin A...

, Hughes published a study of Australia's first ever televised policy speech on 12 November 1963, by then prime minister Sir Robert Menzies

Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....

. At this time, Hughes was a Fellow in Political Science at the Australian National University

Australian National University

The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...

. At time of the 1966 publication, he was a Professor of Political Science and Western Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Queensland

University of Queensland

The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...

.

Their study comprised 250 voters who viewed the policy speech, examined the effect of this form of political communication, and traced its impact on the knowledge, attitudes, and opinions of this group. This was the first such detailed study undertaken in Australia, providing a testing of theories of cognitive equilibrium in relation to voting behaviour, and an examination of television's use in political communication.

Hughes was the first Australian Electoral Commissioner at the Australian Electoral Commission

Australian Electoral Commission

The Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising and supervising federal elections and referendums. State and local government elections are overseen by the Electoral Commission in each state and territory.The Australian Electoral Commission...

 from 1984-1989 (in 1984 the AEC replaced the Australian Electoral Office, which had existed since 1902).

Works

• Hughes, Colin A., & Western, John S. (1966). The Prime Minister's Policy Speech: A Case Study in Televised Politics. Canberra: Australian National University Press.
• Mr Prime Minister. Australian Prime Ministers 1901-1972, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Victoria (1976). ISBN 0-19-550471-2
• Race and Politics in the Bahamas, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane
• The Government of Queensland, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane
• The Mass Media in Australia, (with John Western
  John Western
  John Stuart Western was an Australian academic and author.He received his B.A. and M.A. and his Diploma of Social Studies from the University of Melbourne, and his Ph.D from Columbia University in 1959. In 1966, along with Colin A...
  
  ), University of Queensland Press, Brisbane (1983). ISBN 0-7022-1692-5

External links

• Short Biography