Professor and Head
BA and MPhil in philosophy (Nankai University); Ph.D. (Ohio State University)

Research Interests

• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Contentious Politics
• Political Trust
• Computational Social Science

Refereed English Publications | Top

Book

Kevin O’Brien and Lianjiang Li, Rightful Resistance in Rural China (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006) 

Refereed Journal Articles

“Dimensionality, Contextuality, and Conceptual Equivalence: The Case of Critical Citizens,” Political Science, published online 17 May 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/00323187.2022.2069583

“Decoding Political Trust in China: A Machine Learning Analysis,” China Quarterly, Vol. 249 (March 2022), pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741021001077

“Distrust in Government and Preference for Regime Change in China,” Political Studies, Vol. 69, No. 2 (May 2021), pp. 326–343. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321719892166

“The Cadre Resignation Tide in the Wake of the 18th Party Congress,” China：An International Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3 (August 2019), pp. 188-199. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/732783/

Shupeng Lyu and Lianjiang Li (correspondence author), “The Dual Effect of Economic Development on Trust in the Central Government: Evidence from Two Waves of a National Survey in China,” China Review, Vol. 18, No. 2(May 2018), pp. 65-85.https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26435648

“Reassessing Trust in the Central Government: Evidence from Five National Surveys.” China Quarterly, Vol. 225 (March 2016), pp. 100-121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305741015001629 

“The Magnitude and Resilience of Trust in the Center: Evidence from Interviews with Petitioners in Beijing and a Local Survey in Rural China,” Modern China, Vol. 39, No. 1 (January 2013), pp. 3-36. DOI:10.1007/s11109-010-9111-3

Lianjiang Li, Mingxing Liu, and Kevin J. O’Brien, “Petitioning Beijing: The High Tide of 2003-2006,” China Quarterly, Vol. 210 (June 2012), pp. 313-334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305741012000227)

“Distrust in Government Leaders, Demand for Leadership Change, and Preference for Popular Elections in Rural China,” Political Behavior, Vol. 33, No. 2 (June 2011), pp. 291-311. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-010-9111-3#page-1

“Rights Consciousness and Rules Consciousness in Contemporary China,” China Journal, No. 64 (July 2010), pp. 47-68 (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/tcj.64.20749246).

Lianjiang Li and Kevin O’Brien, “Protest Leadership in Rural China,” China Quarterly, No. 193 (March 2008), pp. 1-23 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/20192161).

“Political Trust and Petitioning in the Chinese Countryside,” Comparative Politics, Vol. 40, No. 2 (January 2008), pp. 209-226. https://doi.org/10.2307/20434075 

Kevin O’Brien and Lianjiang Li, “Popular Contention and its Impact in Rural China,” Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 38, No. 3 (April 2005), pp. 235-259. doi: 10.1177/0010414004272528 .  

“Political Trust in Rural China,” Modern China, Vol. 30, No. 2 (April 2004), pp. 228-258 (doi:10.1177/0097700403261824).

Kevin O’Brien and Lianjiang Li, “Suing the Local State: Administrative Litigation in Rural China,” China Journal, No. 51 (January 2004), pp. 75-96 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/3182147).  

“The Empowering Effect of Village Elections in China,” Asian Survey, Vol. 43, No. 4 (July-August 2003), pp. 648-662 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/as.2003.43.4.648).   

“The Politics of Introducing Direct Township Elections in China,” China Quarterly, Vol. 171 (September 2002), pp. 704-723 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0009443902000438)

“Elections and Popular Resistance in Rural China,” China Information, Vol. XV, No. 2 (2001), pp. 1-19 (tables missing). China Information, Vol. XVI, No. 1 (2002), pp. 89-107 (doi: 10.1177/0920203X0101500201)

“Support for Anti-Corruption Campaigns in Rural China,” Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 10, No. 29 (November 2001), pp. 573-586 (DOI:10.1080/10670560120075019)

Kevin O’Brien and Lianjiang Li, “Accommodating ‘Democracy’ in a One-Party State: Introducing Village Elections in China,” China Quarterly, Vol. 162 (June 2000), pp. 465-489 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305741000008213).  

“The Two-Ballot System in Shanxi Province: Subjecting Village Party Secretaries to a Popular Vote,” China Journal, No. 42 (July 1999), pp. 103-118 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/2667642)

Kevin O’Brien and Lianjiang Li, “Selective Policy Implementation in Rural China,” Comparative Politics, Vol. 31, No. 2 (January 1999), pp. 167-186 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/422143).  

Lianjiang Li and Kevin O’Brien, “Villagers and Popular Resistance in Contemporary China,” Modern China, Vol. 22, No. 1 (January 1996), pp. 28-61 (doi:10.1177/009770049602200102).  

Kevin O’Brien and Lianjiang Li, “The Politics of Lodging Complaints in Rural China,” China Quarterly, Vol. 143 (September 1995), pp. 756-783 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305741000015034)

Kevin O’Brien and Lianjiang Li, “Chinese Political Reform and the Problem of ‘Deputy Quality’,” China Information, Vol. VIII, No. 3 (Winter 1994), pp. 20-31 (doi: 10.1177/0920203X9300800302)

Current Research Grants | Top

Principal Investigator, “Conceptualizing Regime Support: Dimensionality, Contextuality and Structurality” (CUHK14614422), Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, 1/1/2023 – 31/12/2025 (HK$746,853)

Principal Investigator, “Reassessing Trust in Government, Support for Democracy and Rights Consciousness in Contemporary China: A Machine Learning Approach” (CUHK14601820), Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, 1/1/2021 – 31/12/2023 (HK$1,009,992)

Teaching Subjects | Top

GOV3101, Empirical Political Analysis: Approaches and Methods