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- Kenneth Mori McElwain
Research Staff
Kenneth Mori McElwain

Division | Department of Comparative Contemporary Politics |
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Research Fields | Political Institutions, Public Opinion |
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CV | McElwain CV Jan 2023.pdf[210KB] |
Homepage | https://www.kennethmcelwain.com/ |
Researchmap | https://researchmap.jp/kennethmcelwain?lang=en |
Teaching and Research Appointments
1999 | AB, Princeton University |
2005 | PhD, Stanford University |
2005 - 2006 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University |
2006 - 2008 | Lecturer, Stanford University |
2008 - 2015 | Assistant Professor, University of Michigan |
2015 - 2019 | Associate Professor, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo |
2019 - | Professor, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo |
Topics of Research
- 1Comparative Constitutional Design
- 2The Political Economy of Deflation
Selected Publications
- “Explaining Public Support for Gender Quotas: Sexism, Representational Quality, and State Intervention in Japan”, Politics & Gender, 1-25 (with Mari Miura and Tomoki Kaneko)
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X22000617 - “Constitutional Revision in the 2021 Election”, in R. J. Pekkanen, S. R. Reed, and D. Smith, eds. Japan Decides 2021. Palgrave Macmillan, 319-331
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11324-6_21 - “The Clash of Traditional Values: Opposition to Female Monarchs”, European Political Science Review, 1-20 (with Guoer Liu and Yuki Shiraito)
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773922000418 - 日本国憲法の普遍と特異―その軌跡と定量的考察』(千倉書房、2022年)[第34回アジア・太平洋賞特別賞]
The Universality and Originality of the Japanese Constitution in Quantitative Perspective. (Chikura Shobo, 2022) - “Vaccination and altruism under the COVID-19 pandemic.” Public Health in Practice, Volume 3 (June) (with Susumu Cato, Takashi Iida, Kenji Ishida, Asei Ito, Hiroto Katsumata, Masahiro Shoji), 2022.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhip.2022.100225 - “Variations in Early-Stage Responses to Pandemics: Survey Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.” Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, (with Susumu Cato, Takashi Iida, Kenji Ishida, Asei Ito, Masahiro Shoji), 2021.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41885-021-00103-5 - “Social media infodemics and social distancing under the COVID-19 pandemic: Public good provisions under uncertainty.” Global Health Action, 14:1 (with Susumu Cato, Takashi Iida, Kenji Ishida, Asei Ito, Hiroto Katsumata, Masahiro Shoji), 2021.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2021.1995958 - “The Proposer or the Proposal? An Experimental Analysis of Constitutional Beliefs.” Japanese Journal of Political Science 22 (1):15-39 (with Shusei Eshima, and Christian G. Winkler), 2021.
- “The bright and dark sides of social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic: Survey evidence from Japan.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 54:102034 (with Susumu Cato, Takashi Iida, Kenji Ishida, Asei Ito, Hiroto Katsumata, and Masahiro Shoji), 2021.
- “Social distancing as a public good under the COVID-19 pandemic.” Public Health 188:51-53 (with Susumu Cato, Takashi Iida, Kenji Ishida, Asei Ito, and Masahiro Shoji), 2020.
- “The Japanese Constitution.” In The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Politics, edited by Robert J. Pekkanen and Saadia M. Pekkanen. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
- “When Candidates Are More Polarised than Voters: Constitutional Revision in Japan." European Political Science. 2020.
- “The Perils and Virtues of Constitutional Flexibility: Japan’s Constitution and the Liberal International Order." In Y. Funabashi and J. Ikenberry (Eds). The Crisis of Liberal Internationalism: Japan and the World Order. Brookings Institution Press. 2020, pp 303-323.
- “Japan and the Liberal International Order: A Survey Experiment." In Y. Funabashi and J. Ikenberry (Eds). The Crisis of Liberal Internationalism: Japan and the World Order. Brookings Institution Press. 2020, pp 359-376 (With Adam P. Liff.)
- “Constitutional Revision in the 2017 Election”, In Robert J. Pekkanen, Steven R. Reed, Ethan Scheiner, and Daniel Smith, eds. Japan Decides 2017: The Japanese General Election. Palgrave Macmillan. 2018.
- “Party System Institutionalization in Japan”. In A. Hicken & E. Kuhonta (Eds.), Reexamining Party System Institutionalization through Asian Lenses. Cambridge University Press. 2014, pp. 74-107.
- “Parties and Elections”. In J. Babb (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies. London: SAGE Publications. 2014, pp. 367-391.
- “What's Unique about Japan's Constitution? A Comparative and Historical Analysis”. (with Christian Winkler) Journal of Japanese Studies, 41(2), 2015.
- “The Nationalization of Japanese Elections”. Journal of East Asian Studies, 12(3), 2012, pp. 323-350.
- “Party Democratization and the Salience of Party Leaders”. (with Michio Umeda) Journal of Social Science (Shakai Kagaku Kenkyu), 62(1), 2011, pp. 173-193.
- Political Change in Japan: Electoral Behavior, Party Realignment, and the Koizumi Reforms. (Co-Edited Steven R. Reed and Kay Shimizu) Palo Alto: Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. 2009.
- “Manipulating Electoral Rules to Manufacture Single Party Dominance”. American Journal of Political Science, 52(1), 2008, pp. 32-47.
Educational Activities
Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo |
Comparative Politics Field Seminar |