Patricia Thornton

Professor Patricia Thornton serves as the Associate Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Oxford and Tutor in the Politics of China at Merton College. She chairs the Sub-Faculty of Politics and International Relations and oversees the PPE degree programme. Her research explores the interplay between state and societal forces in China, with a focus on governance, the Cultural Revolution's legacy, and political representation. She teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses on Chinese politics and supervises doctoral students in comparative government.

Her research interests include grassroots Party-building in non-public sectors, urban geographies of power in Beijing, and online/offline collective action. She collaborates internationally, co-authoring works on authoritarian resilience and post-Mao governance. Thornton is actively engaged in contemporary Chinese political analysis, publishing frequently and maintaining an active Twitter presence.

Professor Thornton’s academic contributions span historical institutional analysis, modern governance practices, and ideological debates within the Chinese Communist Party. Her work bridges historical and contemporary perspectives to understand China’s evolving political landscape.