Masaaki Higashijima

I am Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo. Previously, I taught and conducted research at Tohoku University, Waseda University, European University Institute, American University of Central Asia, and the University of Michigan. I earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University. My research interests lie in comparative political economy, autocratic politics, regime change, ethnic politics, Central Asia, and political methodology.

My work has appeared in the British Journal of Political Science, Government and Opposition, Japanese Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Political Behavior, Political Psychology, Studies in Comparative International Development, and World Development. I published the first book, the Dictator’s Dilemma at the Ballot Box: Electoral Manipulation, Economic Maneuvering, and Political Order in Autocracies, from the University of Michigan Press (Weiser Center For Emerging Democracies Series). My research has been supported by the US National Science Foundation, World Bank, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Fulbright Commission, and Suntory Foundation, among others.