Qvortrup, Mads 1967–

PERSONAL: Born December 7, 1967; son of Steffen (a vicar and priest) and Emmy (a teacher) Qvortrup; married Pia Jensen (an archaeologist), July 19, 1993; children: Sebastian, Fred. Ethnicity: "White." Education: Oxford University, M.A., D.Phil., Ph.D., 2000. Religion: Protestant. Hobbies and other interests: "Theology, writing, football."

ADDRESSES: Home—57 Henley St., Oxford OX4 1ES, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Educator and author. Information, Copenhagen, Denmark, commentator and columnist, 1993–2000; University of Århus, Århus, Denmark, professor of political theory, 2000–01; London School of Economics and Political Science, London, England, lecturer and fellow, 2001–03; Home Office, London, head of gun crime, 2003–. Referendum Institute, Washington, DC, senior research fellow, 1999–. Volunteer teacher at a primary school, 2001–02.

WRITINGS:

A Comparative Study of Referendums, Manchester University Press (Manchester, England), 2002.

The Political Philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Impossibility of Reason, Manchester University Press (Manchester, England), 2003.

Contributor to periodicals.

SIDELIGHTS: Mads Qvortrup told CA: "'Blessed are the peacemakers.' Thus reads a verse in the New Testament. As an advisor to the British government, as well as a political theorist, I have made this my motto.

"Politics is the science, not only of what is, but also of what ought to be. As a writer I am driven to write in order to make a practical contribution to the world of which I am a part. Needless to say, as an author specializing in the political philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and direct democracy, my impact—if any—can only be indirect. Yet it is always important to keep a clear focus. As G. M. Young once noted, there is little need for experts who know so much about so little that they cannot be contradicted and are not worth the bother.

"I always write: in the bus, on my breaks, during meals. This is not always popular with my wife!

"My writing is chiefly driven by passion, the love of writing, and my religious faith. My inspiration, in the case of my first and second books, came from an enduring sense that these matters had not been given a fair hearing before. My books are contributions to that never-ending dialog with the classics which is political philosophy; or, as I used to tell my students, there are other words on subjects, then last words."