Masaaki Higashijima

I am Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo. While on sabbatical, I am currently affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University. Previously, I taught and/or conducted research at Tohoku University, Waseda University, European University Institute, American University of Central Asia, University of Washington, and the University of Michigan. I received a Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University. My research interests include comparative/international political economy, autocratic politics, regime change, political institutions, and Central Asia.

My work has appeared in leading journals such as British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Behavior, and World Development. I published my first book, the Dictator’s Dilemma at the Ballot Box: Electoral Manipulation, Economic Maneuvering, and Political Order in Autocracies (University of Michigan Press, Weiser Center For Emerging Democracies Series), which won the IDE-JETRO Award for the Studies of Developing Countries and the Ed A Hewett Book Prize (Honorable Mention, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies [ASEEES]). 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.