My research explores the complex mechanisms through which authoritarian states manage law, information, and markets. Focusing primarily on China, I investigate how autocratic regimes utilize legal institutions and professionals to build legitimacy and ensure stability, while simultaneously maneuvering to constrain democratization. To unpack these dynamics, I employ a multi-method approach—integrating field and survey experiments with administrative data and computational text and audio analysis.

My book project, Professional Origins of Authoritarian Rule of Law, explains how legal mobilization emerges under autocracy and how rulers govern through expertise rather than coercion alone. The chapters examine: (1) How governments use lawyers to selectively deliver justice and maintain control; (2) How lawyers consolidate civil society to resist authoritarian constraints; and (3) The effectiveness of citizen and government appeals to lawyers in competing for legal mobilization. Together, the book explores how pro-liberal professional elites function as intermediaries between state and society in authoritarian contexts.

A second line of work investigates: (1) The social and environmental consequences of the U.S.–China trade war; (2) The political influence of legal professionals across countries; and (3) Public opinion, ideology, propaganda, and censorship in China, Japan, and beyond. Across projects, I primarily use field and survey experiments, causal inference, text and audio analysis, and large administrative or historical archives to study political behavior and institutional adaptation under authoritarianism.

I teach quantitative and comparative politics through evidence-driven, hands-on learning. My courses combine data analysis, simulations, and replication projects to connect theory with real-world problems in conflict, governance, and accountability. I emphasize transparent assessment, inclusive discussion, and mentorship that equips students to design rigorous and reproducible research. See my teaching statement and evaluations.

My research has been published in Political Analysis (Editors’ Choice 2024) and is R&R at Comparative Political Studies and the American Journal of Political Science.