Aurel Croissant

Prof. Dr. Aurel Croissant is a full Professor of Political Science at the Institute of Political Science, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg. His academic career spans institutions like the Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA) and fellowships from prestigious bodies including the East West Center Honolulu and the Korea Foundation.

• Editorial Leadership: Editor-in-Chief of Democratization, and serves on editorial boards of journals like International Studies Review and Asian Politics & Policy.
• Research Focus: Comparative analysis of democracies and autocracies, civil-military relations, autocratization, democratic resilience, terrorism, and political violence in East/Southeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula.
• Advisory Roles: Member of academic advisory boards for institutions including the Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI) and the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI).

His recent publications examine democratic backsliding, civil-military dynamics in autocracies, and pandemic governance. Awards include fellowships from the National Endowment for Democracy and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. He has advised numerous PhD students and collaborates extensively with international scholars.