معرفی
M. Steven Fish is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in democracy and authoritarianism, religion and politics, and constitutional systems and national legislatures. He is a leading comparative political scientist with extensive research experience across Eurasia, East Europe, and Southeast Asia.
His educational background includes a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University. Previously, he has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and universities in Russia, Poland, China, and Indonesia, including serving as a Senior Fulbright Fellow at Airlangga University in Indonesia and the European University at St. Petersburg, Russia.
Professor Fish's research explores the relationship between democratic institutions and societal factors, with particular attention to national legislatures' role in sustaining democracy and the connection between religious cultures and political systems. His work demonstrates that strong legislatures are crucial for democratic consolidation, as evidenced by his co-authored 'The Handbook of National Legislatures: A Global Survey'.
His publications span decades of scholarly work, with his most recent book 'Comeback: Routing Trumpism, Reclaiming the Nation, and Restoring Democracy's Edge' (2024) analyzing contemporary challenges to American democracy and proposing strategies for renewal. His influential 2011 book 'Are Muslims Distinctive? A Look at the Evidence' challenged prevailing assumptions about Islam's relationship with democracy.
- Distinguished Social Sciences Teaching Award of the College of Letters and Science at Berkeley
- Best Book Award of 2006 from the American Political Science Association's Comparative Democratization Section
Professor Fish is an active public intellectual who frequently appears on BBC, CNN, and other major networks. His commentary has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Foreign Policy. He has served as an expert consultant to U.S. federal agencies and international organizations including the European Commission for Democracy through Law, bridging academic research with practical policy applications.
His teaching includes courses on comparative politics, Russian politics, democracy's global crisis, and foundations of political thought, reflecting his broad expertise across multiple subfields of political science.
