Lecturer in the Political Economy of Development
Department of International Development (ID)
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Affiliate, Government Department
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Member, Asia Research Centre
Biography
Mayling Birney is a comparativist with a special expertise in the politics and political economy of China. Her broad research interests include political reform and stability in China; governance and development; comparative democratization and authoritarian resilience; the rule of law; local-national relations; state-society relations; and authoritarian and mixed regimes. She is currently finishing a book that explains what it is about China’s authoritarian system that enables central authorities to limit the unwanted outcomes of their own political reforms. The book closely examines the realities and uneven development of China’s village elections system, drawing upon years of original survey research, qualitative field research, and archival work. From 2007-2010, Dr. Birney was at Princeton University, where she was jointly appointed as the Wilson-Cotsen Fellow in the Princeton Society of Fellows and a Lecturer in the Woodrow Wilson School, and taught courses on Chinese politics and comparative regime change and stability. In 2006-2007, she was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, a leading think tank in Washington D.C. In an earlier part of her career, Dr. Birney also explored democratic politics in the United States from various angles, including through professional work as a Legislative Aide in the United States Senate. She holds a PhD in political science from Yale University, an MSc in economics from LSE, and a BA from Harvard University.
Contact details
CV|
Mayling Birney
Department of International Development
Connaught House, CON 8.10
London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
Email: m.e.birney@lse.ac.uk|
Tel: +44 (0)20 7955 7455