https://www.christopherjcarothers.com/home daily 1.0 2026-07-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/1567466345748-BZ4EJA3NS9KGXNOR7DT0/Carothers_headshot.jpg Home - Welcome! I am the Deputy Chair of the East Asia and Pacific Area Studies Program at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center of the U.S. Department of State. A political scientist by training, my research focuses on authoritarianism and democratic backsliding in East Asia (including China, Japan, the Koreas, and Taiwan). I am also an associated scholar at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Contemporary China and a nonresident fellow at the European Centre for North Korean Studies, which is based at the University of Vienna. I received my Ph.D. from Harvard University’s Department of Government in 2019. I am the author of two books: Corruption Control in Authoritarian Regimes: Lessons from East Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2022) and East Asia’s Troubled Democracies: How Illiberal Trends Are Reshaping Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan (Columbia University Press, 2026). In addition, my writing has been published or is forthcoming in numerous academic and policy journals, including Perspectives on Politics, Government and Opposition, the Journal of Democracy, Politics and Society, the Journal of Contemporary China, the Journal of East Asian Studies, the Taiwan Journal of Democracy, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the China Leadership Monitor, and The National Interest. Before entering academia, I lived and traveled in East Asia for several years, learning Chinese and Korean along the way. I worked for The Wall Street Journal Asia in Hong Kong, taught English in Xinjiang, and studied Korean in Seoul. I received my B.A. (summa cum laude), also from Harvard, in Social Studies and East Asian Studies. https://www.christopherjcarothers.com/research daily 0.75 2025-12-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/f709bfc8-32aa-421c-9d4d-1abeb0f7075f/FOREIGN202204261428000423423728019.jpg Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/4e897114-40d9-4376-bb5c-a8d641bee7a3/%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E5%B8%82%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E5%92%8C%E6%97%85%E6%B8%B8%E5%B1%80.jpg Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/b4722ec4-a5a4-4127-93ad-9816368e8752/EndlessFrontierAct.png Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/6e7f330b-482f-42b0-9dcf-af724e0a68f2/Screenshot+2023-01-11+at+9.19.58+PM.png Research https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/f3bf50de-b114-482e-a572-f66fd436b0e0/xijinping2.jpg Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/8a05a8c2-2636-414e-ab49-8fe569177f3b/GoldStatue2.jpeg Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/58d877da-61a6-4de1-baf7-fa3ffd50cc0a/Poverty+%282%29.png Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/ecde6a19-92ba-4b87-b025-ec26b610304e/IMG_20181213_163638-COLLAGE.jpg Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/178ea877-1028-4800-956c-9fc9c5d98685/MalayProtest.png Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/eb7eb4d1-8f82-460f-a714-c822122c55c0/TigersFlies+%281%29.jpeg Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/940b0c0d-fb95-4cc2-b5f4-c4a9af9c8aa5/Screenshot+2023-01-11+at+10.45.49+PM.png Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/22ddaa5d-b203-4dad-8428-6b0466251a6b/Screenshot+2023-01-11+at+10.48.30+PM.png Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.christopherjcarothers.com/teaching daily 0.75 2025-12-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/1530351776533-ULZGIYN5WHFOMIR36V22/wallpaper8.JPG Teaching Image Credit: Thomas Carothers https://www.christopherjcarothers.com/pagecv daily 0.75 2026-07-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/1530357313265-JTYF7HEU72BFF5GE4HN3/wallpaper9.JPG CV - Find my CV here. Image Credit: Thomas Carothers https://www.christopherjcarothers.com/contact daily 0.75 2025-12-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/1530358654441-6BJUURM6U7DRJSBCBVW0/wallpaper14.jpg Contact - Contact Image Credit: Christopher Carothers https://www.christopherjcarothers.com/books daily 0.75 2026-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/27c0a0e6-2dcc-41f5-87ce-1ee0c26c299e/1_caro22425_front.jpg Books Amid global concern over democratic backsliding, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are often viewed as exceptions--stable, healthy democracies. Yet illiberal trends have been quietly growing in each country since the early 2010s. South Korea's martial law crisis in December 2024 shocked the world, and all three East Asian democracies face rising threats to elections, the rule of law, and civil and political rights. Drawing on extensive multilingual research, Christopher Carothers traces the forces undermining democracy in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. East Asia's Troubled Democracies identifies the crucial factor fueling challenges in each country: the overcentralization of power in Japan, political polarization in South Korea, and Beijing's interference in Taiwan. In addition, all three countries have seen rising immigration, changing norms around gender and sexuality, and shifting views of national identity since the 1990s. This rapid sociocultural change has provoked political backlash, straining democratic norms. At the same time, as Carothers shows, historical, institutional, and demographic characteristics shared across these three societies have bolstered democratic resilience. Compellingly written and rigorously argued, this book provides a nuanced corrective to overly optimistic views of the state of democracy in East Asia and reveals how global trends in democratic erosion are playing out in this critical region. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/6a23bf84-5690-45ae-96f6-6f41d6cf646e/BookCover_Carothers_.jpg Books - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.christopherjcarothers.com/commentary daily 0.75 2026-07-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b3711adc3c16a47b4a65834/9c566581-029e-4b7c-b7da-00c1b0b3c710/mmexport1637154941655.jpg Commentary - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.christopherjcarothers.com/read-me-om daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377097104716-HDI53XJVV0DKZ24A3T68/51e453dee4b06abd3403c22e.png Read Me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377096775448-0L7B4Q54H1VLOGFF1DPR/synthetica+%2820130821%29.jpg Read Me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377096507573-1MU42OOOOGIM9URAJ9D9/515c4225e4b0afec1218b21e.png Read Me https://www.christopherjcarothers.com/classes-alt-om daily 0.75 2025-05-12