Hello. I am a professor of Comparative Politics at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law, Keio University.
My research focuses on regime transition, political institutions, and Southeast Asia. Broadly, I study how various types of political regimes emerge, function, and collapse in Southeast Asia and beyond. In this context, I have examined questions addressing the impact of decolonization on regime formation in Asia; how political institutions influence the quality of democracy; how political regimes can be measured. My books include: Presidential Bandwagon: Parties and Party Systems in the Philippines (2009), Comparative Politics (2014), Presidents and Assemblies in Asia (editor), Politics of Change in the Philippines (co-editor), I have also published my research in Electoral Studies, Party Politics, the Pacific Affairs, among other journals. I served as Vice President of the International Political Science Association from 2018 to 2020. I am the founding director of the V-Dem East Asia Regional Center. Currently I serve as President of the Japan Association of Comparative Studies (2022-2024).