معرفی
Joseph Wright is a Professor of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University, serving as co-Director of the Global and International Studies (GLIS) program. He holds a PhD from UCLA (2007) and has held postdoctoral positions at Princeton University and the University of Notre Dame. His research focuses on comparative politics, dictatorships, and the impact of international factors on autocratic rule and democratization. He has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Minerva Research Initiative, and private foundations.
Wright’s research interests include government repression, civil-military relations, and the role of migration in democratization. His seminal work Migration and Democracy (Princeton UP, 2022) received the 2023 APSA Best Book Award. His recent book The Origins of Elected Strongmen (Oxford UP, 2023) explores how personalist political parties erode democratic systems.
His publications span Foreign Affairs, Journal of Democracy, and academic journals, with a focus on autocratic regimes, nonviolent resistance, and foreign aid dynamics. He has developed datasets like the V-Party Index and Colpus dataset on coups. Current research examines digital repression, personalist politics in democracies, and the global rise of authoritarian trends.
Professional accolades include the APSA award and grants from major institutional funders. He advises graduate students in comparative politics and has mentored researchers on autocratic governance and regime transitions.
