Yuhua Wang

Bio

Yuhua Wang (王裕华) is Professor of Government at Harvard University. His research focuses on two aspects of the politics of state building: 1) What contributes to the emergence of effective and durable statehood? 2) After an effective state emerges, how can it be constrained? His first book Tying the Autocrat’s Hands: The Rise of the Rule of Law in China (Cambridge University Press, 2015) addresses how an authoritarian state can be constrained. His second book The Rise and Fall of Imperial China: The Social Origins of State Development (Princeton University Press, 2022) examines how effective statehood emerges and endures. He received his B.A. from Peking University and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Selected Publications

Books and Monographs

• Yuhua Wang. 2015. Tying the Autocrat’s Hands: The Rise of the Rule of Law in China. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics).
• Yuhua Wang. 2022. The Rise and Fall of Imperial China: The Social Origins of State Development. Princeton University Press (Princeton Studies in Contemporary China).
• Melanie Manion and Yuhua Wang (guest co-editors). 2021. “China in the World.” Special issue of Studies in Comparative International Development.

Recent Articles and Chapters

• Mark Dincecco and Yuhua Wang. Forthcoming. “State Capacity in Historical Political Economy.” In Oxford Handbook of Historical Political Economy, Jeff Jenkins and Jared Rubin, eds., Oxford University Press.
• Yuhua Wang. Forthcoming. “Blood Is Thicker Than Water: Elite Kinship Networks and State Building in Imperial China.” American Political Science Review.
• Pamela Clouser McCann, Charles Shipan, and Yuhua Wang. Forthcoming. “Measuring the Legislative Design of Judicial Review of Agency Actions.” Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization. 
• Yuhua Wang and Bruce Dickson. 2022. “How Corruption Investigations Undermine Regime Support: Evidence from China.” Political Science Research and Methods 10(1): 33-48. 
• Yuhua Wang. 2021. “State-in-Society 2.0: Toward Fourth-Generation Theories of the State.” Comparative Politics 54(1): 175-198. 
• Yuhua Wang. 2021. “The Political Legacy of Violence during China’s Cultural Revolution.” British Journal of Political Science 51(2): 463-487. 
• M. Taylor Fravel, Melanie Manion, and YuhuaWang. 2021. “A ‘China in the World’ Paradigm for Scholarship.” Studies in Comparative International Development 56 (1): 1-17. 
• Yuhua Wang. 2018. “Relative Capture: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from the Chinese Judiciary.” Comparative Political Studies 51(8): 1012-1041. 
• Mark Dincecco and Yuhua Wang. 2018. ”Violent Conflict and Political Development over the Long Run: China versus Europe.” Annual Review of Political Science 21: 341-358. 
• Yuhua Wang. 2017. “Betting on a Princeling.” Studies in Comparative International Development 52 (4): 395- 415. 
• Yuhua Wang. 2017. “Can the Chinese Communist Party Learn from Chinese Emperors?” In The China Questions, Jennifer Rudolph and Michael Szonyi, eds., Harvard University Press, 58-64.
• Yuhua Wang. 2016. “Beyond Local Protectionism: China’s State–Business Relations in the Last Two Decades.” The China Quarterly 226: 319-341. 
• Yuhua Wang and Carl Minzner. 2015. “The Rise of the Chinese Security State.” The China Quarterly 222: 339-359. 
• Yuhua Wang. 2015. “Politically Connected Polluters under Smog.” Business & Politics17(1): 97-124. 
• Yuhua Wang. 2014. “Empowering the Police: How the Chinese Communist Party Manages its Coercive Leaders.” The China Quarterly 219: 625-648. 
• Yuhua Wang. 2014. “Institutions and Bribery in an Authoritarian State.” Studies in Comparative International Development 49(2): 217-241. 
• Yuhua Wang. 2014. “Coercive Capacity and the Durability of the Chinese Communist State.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 47(1): 13-25. 
• Yuhua Wang. 2013. “Court Funding and Judicial Corruption in China.” The China Journal 69: 43-63.

Recent Media Appearances

• How WeChat Came to Rule China, The Verge, 2018
• How Has Tiananmen Changed China?, The Washington Post, 2019
• Aid Links: Traffic Jams, Conflict Minerals, Humanitarian Tech, More,  The Lowy Institute, 2019 
• 30 Years After Tiananmen Square, A Changed China Largely Ignores the Milestone, PennToday, 2019
• Asians Are Stereotyped as “Competent but Cold.” Here’s How That Increases Backlash from the Coronavirus Pandemic, The Washington Post, 2020
• Foreign Policy Experts Call for End to Hate Crimes Against Asian American Community: Readers, USA Today, 2020
• Devenir membre du Parti communiste, le rêve de l’élite rouge en Chine, Le Monde, 2021
• The Founding Fathers of International Relations Theory Loved War but Overlooked Sex, Foreign Policy, 2021
• Xi Faces the Dilemma of China’s Imperial Rulers,Financial Times, 2021

Recent Invited Talks

• Invited presenter, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” Yale University, Conference on State Capacity in Comparative and International Perspective, October 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” the College of William & Mary, Government Colloquium Series, September 2022
• Invited mentor, Frances McCall Rosenbluth Junior Workshop, APSA Political Economy Section, September 2022
• Keynote speaker, “Chinese Politics and Comparative Politics,” 15th Joint Conference on Political Science and International Relations, Tsinghua University, July 2022
• Invited participant, Getting China Right: Studying China in the (Post) Covid Era,University of Michigan, June 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” School of Public Administration, Jilin University, May 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” School of Economics and Management, East China Normal University, May 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” School of International Studies, Nanjing University, May 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” 21st Century China Center, School of Global Policy & Strategy, UCSD, May 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” School of Government, Nanjing University, May 2022
• Invited presenter, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” Workshop on Historical Comparative Political Analysis/Political Economy, Duke University, April 2022
• Invited speaker, “Has US’s Engagement with China Failed?” Brad Morse Speaker Series, University of Massachusetts Lowell, April 2022
• Invited presenter, “The Security Imperative and Paths to Modern Development,”Conference on War and Economic History, the Northwestern Center of Economic History, Northwestern University, March 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” the Economic History Seminar, Paris School of Economics, March 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” the Centre for Chinese Research, University of British Columbia, February 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” The Lieberthal and Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, February 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Society, University of Oxford, February 2022
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” Virtual Lecture Series: Historical Political Economy of Bureaucracy & State Building, University of Konstanz, December 2021
• Invited speaker, “Xi for Life? Understanding China’s Leadership Politics,” The Center for Strategic and International Studies, December 2021
• Invited speaker, panel chair, and discussant, Conference on the Future of the Communist Party of China, National University of Singapore East Asian Institute, November 2021
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” School of Government, Peking University, October 2021
• Invited speaker, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” Korea University, September 2021
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” Department of Political Science, Texas A&M University, September 2021
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” Huazhong University of Science and Technology, School of Sociology, May 2021
• Invited speaker, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” New York University in Abu Dhabi, Political Science Seminar Series, April 2021
• Invited speaker, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” the University of Virginia, the Lansing Lee Speaker Series in Global Politics, April 2021
• Invited speaker, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” Penn State University, the Colloquium Series, March 2021
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” University of Southern California, The East Asian Studies Center Guest Speaker Series, March 2021
• Invited speaker, “How Corruption Investigations Undermine Regime Support: Evidence from China,” McGill University, Workshop on the Politics of Corruption Prosecutions Workshop, February 2021
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” University of Southern California, Marshall China Research Group Seminar, February 2021
• Invited speaker, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” University of Southern California, Comparative Politics Workshop, February 2021
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” Johns Hopkins University, SAIS China Studies Happy Hour, January 2021
• Invited speaker, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” University of Oxford, Comparative Politics Colloquium, January 2021
• Invited speaker, “Will China Overtake the U.S.?”, Initiating Mutual Understanding Through Student Exchange, January 2021
• Invited speaker, “Doing Business in China,” Yale University, MacMillan Center, September 2020
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” Yale University, Law, Economics, and Organization Workshop, September 2020
• Invited discussant, The Chinese Communist Party at 100: Assessing Its Roles, University of Pennsylvania Center for the Study of Contemporary China Annual Conference,September 2020
• Invited speaker, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” Zoom in China: A Webinar Series, August 2020
• Invited speaker, “Social Cleavages and War Mobilization in Qing China,” People’s University, Qing History Webinar Series, July 2020
• Invited keynote speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” People’s University, Conference on Comparative Historical Analysis, July 2020
• Invited presenter, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” China Conference, the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, April 2020 (postponed due to COVID-19)
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” George Mason University, Public Choice Center Seminar Series, April 2020 (cancelled due to COVID-19)
• Invited discussant, The Repression in China and the World Conference, Yale University, March 2020
• Invited presenter, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” New York University, Quantitative China Studies Seminar, February 2020
• Invited key speaker, Working Group on the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations, National Research University – Higher School of Economics (Moscow), December 2019
• Invited participant, Getting China Right: China in the World Conference, Duke University, December 2019
• Invited discussant, China Law Conference, University of Michigan, October 2019
• Invited speaker, “The Rise and Fall of Imperial China,” Center for the Study of Contemporary China, University of Pennsylvania, September 2019
• Invited presenter, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” Princeton University, The Paul and Marcia Wythes Center on Contemporary China, Princeton Research Network on Contemporary China, August 2019
• Invited panel chair and presenter, “How Corruption Investigations Undermine Regime Support: Evidence from China,” Hertie School of Governance, Conference on Digital Governance in China, June 2019
• Invited speaker, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” Northwestern University, Comparative Politics Seminar, May 2019
• Invited speaker, “Sons and Lovers: Political Stability in China and Europe before the Great Divergence,” Harvard Kennedy School, Applied History Network Meeting, May 2019
• Invited presenter, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” New York University, Quantitative China Studies Seminar, April 2019
• Invited presenter, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” Princeton University, Conference on State Capacity and Public Goods Provision, April 2019
• Invited speaker, “Internal Conflict and State Development: Evidence from Imperial China,” University of Michigan, Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, March 2019
• Invited discussant, Sustainability of Government Innovation: An International Conference, Duke University, January 2019
• Invited speaker, “Elite Kinship Networks and State-Building Preferences in Imperial China,” Stanford University, Comparative Politics Seminar, November 2018
• Invited speaker, “How Corruption Investigations Undermine Regime Support: Evidence from China,” Stanford University, China Program, November 2018
• Invited speaker, “Tying the Autocrat’s Hands: The Rise of the Rule of Law in China,” Yale University, MacMillan Center, September 2018
• Invited speaker, “How Corruption Investigations Undermine Regime Support: Evidence from China,” Nanjing University, School of Government, June 2018
• Invited speaker, “Natural Experiments with Observational Data,” Peking University, School of Government, June 2018
• Invited speaker, “Historical Institution, Social Esteem, and Bureaucratic Capacity in China,” University of Michigan, Political Economy Workshop, April 2018
• Invited presenter, “The Political Legacy of Violence during China’s Cultural Revolution,” New York University in Abu Dhabi, Legacies of Violence Workshop, April 2018
• Invited speaker, “Social Cleavages and War Mobilization in Qing China,” Princeton University, Comparative Politics Seminar, March 2018
• Invited speaker, “Social Cleavages and War Mobilization in Qing China,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Comparative Politics Seminar, February 2018
• Invited speaker, “Sons and Lovers: Political Stability in China and Europe before the Great Divergence,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan China Seminar, February 2018
• Invited speaker, “Historical Institution, Social Esteem, and Bureaucratic Capacity in China,” Columbia University, Comparative Politics Seminar, November 2017
• Invited speaker, “Sons and Lovers: Political Stability in China and Europe before the Great Divergence,” New York University, Comparative Politics Seminar, October 2017
• Invited speaker, “Tying the Autocrat’s Hands: The Rise of the Rule of Law in China,” Yale University, MacMillan Center, September 2017
• Invited speaker, “Sons and Lovers: Political Stability in China and Europe before the Great Divergence,” National Taiwan University, Division of Social Sciences, May 2017
• Invited speaker, “How Corruption Investigations Undermine Regime Support: Evidence from China,” National Chengchi University, Graduate Institute of East Asia Studies, May 2017
• Invited speaker, “Sons and Lovers: Political Stability in China and Europe before the Great Divergence,” Tsinghua University, Department of Sociology, May 2017
• Invited presenter, “The Political Legacy of Violence during China’s Cultural Revolution,” University of Pittsburgh, Conference on Political Memory, May 2017
• Invited speaker, “Sons and Lovers: Political Stability in China and Europe before the Great Divergence,” University of Michigan, Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, April 2017