Christopher Carothers

Christopher Carothers received his Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University in May 2019. His research is on authoritarianism and corruption control with a regional focus on East Asia—especially China, the Koreas, and Taiwan. His first book project, Curbing Corruption in Dictatorships, explains why some autocrats are motivated to curb corruption, why their efforts succeed or fail, and what the political consequences of such efforts are. The book challenges the conventional wisdom that authoritarian regimes almost always benefit from engaging in and accepting corruption, and has broad implications for the study of authoritarian governance and durability. Dr. Carothers’ writing has been published or is forthcoming in Perspectives on Politics, the Journal of Democracy, and major media publications such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The National Interest. At the CSCC, he will complete his book and advance other research projects on China in the Xi era, the politics of corruption in North Korea, and other East Asia-related topics.