This research cluster focuses on the governance of China by adopting a broad definition of governance, which refers to “all processes of governing, the institutions, processes and practices through which issues of common concern are decided upon and regulated” (UNESCAP). This cluster’s research and activities will thus encompass the areas of government, executive politics, public policy, law, public administration, and the organization of the state, including its embedded relationships with the ruling Communist Party. But it will also be interested more broadly in China’s decision-making and policy implementation processes, the multiple actors and stakeholders they involve on various scales, and the formal and informal structures and institutions that underpin them. It will therefore include what is referred to as “multistakeholder governance”, “governance-beyond-the state” or “networked governance”. While primarily focused on China’s domestic governance, it will also extend to Chinese (state or non-state actors) contribution to regional and global governance and to comparisons between China and other countries.
The cluster brings together DKU faculty members, undergraduate students, and graduate students from a range of social science disciplines. For this DKU community, we contribute to fostering a research environment around Governing China by organizing talks and workshops. Recognizing the importance of narratives in governance studies, this cluster will also aim to provide a space for students and faculties to engage with and discuss China’s governance-related issues in the Chinese language (Putonghua).
Beyond DKU, this cluster aims to become a bridge between scholars and students working on the aforementioned topics in China and outside China. To achieve this, the cluster aims to develop stronger ties both with China scholars in other countries and with the Chinese academic community in China. During AY25-26, we will try to strengthen the link between DKU and Duke on research related to Governing China.
Jiahua Yue is an Assistant Professor of political science at Duke Kunshan University. His research focus is international political economy, comparative international development, and Chinese politics. He is also interested in applied computation methods in social science, such as text analysis and image processing tools. His work has appeared in the British Journal of Political Science, World Development, among others. He teaches a wide range of topics on international conflict, trade and foreign investment, public opinion, and authoritarian politics.
Annemieke Van Den Dool is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy, Duke Kunshan University.Her research interests include public policy, environmental policy and crisis politics. Her current research focuses on why and how public health crises such as food safety scandals, epidemics and environmental incidents lead to legal change in China, and what the nature of such change is. Before joining Duke Kunshan, she was a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School and a lecturer at Mid Sweden University, where she taught courses on public administration, policy processes, and crisis politics.
Coraline Goron is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy, Duke Kunshan University. Dr. Coraline Goron obtained a double Ph.D. degree in Political Science from the University of Warwick and the Université Libre de Bruxelles under the aegis of the Erasmus Mundus GEM program. Before joining DKU, Coraline was a postdoctoral research fellow funded by the Wiener-Anspach Foundation at the University of Oxford China Centre.
Fangsheng Zhu is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Duke Kunshan University. Fangsheng Zhu is a sociologist and studies education, particularly the interactions between families, education providers and governments. His research topics include parenting, school admissions and education policies. His teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include public policy, methods and education.
Jianzi He is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Economy at Duke Kunshan University. Primarily focusing on China, his research lies at the intersection of political economy and public administration, examining the roles of leadership and political selection, intergovernmental conflict and cooperation, and state capacity in economic development and government quality. He teaches China-related courses including China’s Economic Transition and China in the World.
Junius Brown is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Economy at Duke Kunshan University, though his research primarily relates to topics in political science. Prior to receiving his PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, he spent two years in Cornell’s Sociology PhD program. His research interests include state-society interaction, the responsiveness of street-level bureaucrats, law and society, and political psychology. At DKU he teaches courses on international political economy, development, and institutions.
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