Judith Betts teaches government and political communication at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. She has worked in the Australian Public Service, served as a ministerial adviser and as a speechwriter, and currently works as an academic.

Mark Phythian is Professor of Politics in the School of History, Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester, UK. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books, editor of the journal Intelligence and National Security, and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.