Dimitar Gueorguiev

Dimitar Gueorguiev is an associate professor of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and director of Chinese studies at Syracuse University, where he teaches courses on Chinese politics, comparative autocracy, research methods and foreign policy. He is also the Yang Ni and Xiaoqing Li Scholar in U.S.-China/Asia Relations for the 2023-24 academic year.

Gueorguiev's research covers topics broadly tied to public participation in politics, whether that means turning out for an election or showing up to a street protest. In the Chinese context, Gueorguiev's research revolves around regime strategies and institutions for harnessing public participation for the instrumental goal of staying in power through improved governance.

Outside of China, Gueorguiev studies elections, corruption and foreign investment. Gueorguiev's work is primarily empirical, relying heavily on randomized surveys and original data on sub-national legislative, judicial, electoral and protest activity. Some of his research has been published in the Journal of Politics, American Journal of Political Science, Political Science, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of East Asian Studies, and the Asian Journal of Economics.

Gueorguiev is currently a China Fellow at the Wilson Center and Public Intellectual with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. His co-authored book on Chinese governance institutions, "China’s Governance Puzzle," was published by Cambridge University Press in 2017. His newest book on digital participation and authoritarianism, entitled "Retrofitting Leninism," is available for order with Oxford University Press.