Nicholas Kuipers

Nicholas Kuipers is an Assistant Professor of Politics at Princeton University, where he focuses on comparative politics, political economy, and public policy. His research examines how governance institutions shape political attitudes, with a regional emphasis on Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia. Previously, he held positions at the University of California, Berkeley (PhD) and the National University of Singapore. He has worked at Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting in Jakarta and received a Fulbright grant to Indonesia (2014-2015).

His education includes a PhD in Political Science from UC Berkeley (2014 graduate of Oberlin College). His research spans contentious politics, religious violence, gender representation, and historical colonial institutions, supported by grants from the NSF, Singapore Ministry of Education (AcRF), and others. He is a non-resident research associate at the Center on the Politics of Development.

Key research themes include the impact of Islamist parties on religious conflict, the role of female representatives in reducing tolerance of intimate partner violence, and the dynamics of misinformation in Indonesian elections. His work integrates historical analysis, such as the long-term effects of the Dutch opium concession system on ethnic tensions in Java.

Grants and collaborations include projects funded by the Institute for International Studies and Southeast Asia Research Group. He has shared datasets such as high-frequency Indonesian voter surveys (Hi-Res SIKAP) and legislative election records. His research bridges quantitative methods with institutional history, emphasizing the interplay between governance structures and societal attitudes.