I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. My research explores the relationships between fiscal policies, party-building, and state-society relations in authoritarian regimes, particularly in China. I am also particularly interested in the roles of elites in the organizational evolution and functioning of authoritarian institutions, such as political parties and legislatures, across both historical and contemporary contexts. I earned my Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University in 2011.
Along with Yuhua Wang (Harvard), we co-organize the Chinese Politics Research in Progress (CPRP). This is a virtual workshop that promotes scholarly research on Chinese politics in comparative politics and international relations. The CPRP virtual workshop is open to the public, and will be held between *12:00-1:00PM* (Central Standard Time) on Fridays every two or three weeks during the regular academic year. Please visit our website for more information.
Xiaobo Lü
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of California, Berkeley
BOOKS
(2025) Domination and Mobilization:
The Rise and Fall of Political Parties in China’s Republican Era (Cambridge University Press)
Examining the miraculous rise of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the surprising downfall of the Kuomintang (KMT) in the early twentieth century, I reveal that domination and mobilization are key for authoritarian parties to seize state power, challenging the prevailing wisdom on power-sharing and emphasizing the importance of dominant party leaders for organizational strength and resource mobilization. I argue that the CCP's mass mobilization infrastructure, initially seen as a disadvantage before the Sino-Japanese War, became a powerful asset during the war and led to its victory. The KMT's elite mobilization infrastructure, conversely, was decimated by the war, and its lack of a strong leader prevented a successful shift in party-building strategy. Party building subsequently played a pivotal role in shaping the successes and failures of resource mobilization for both parties. The book sheds new light on the origins of the CCP and the inner workings of revolutionary parties, making in a landmark study in Chinese politics.
Pre-order at Cambridge University Press or Amazon.
PAPERS
Refereed Journals
(Conditionally Accepted) "The Shadow of Social Desirability Bias: Evidence from Reassessing the Sources of Political Trust in China" (with Ding Li, Shuang Ma, Wenhui Yang) Political Science Research Methods.
(2025) "Do Procedural Justice and Retributive Justice Enhance Support for Property Tax? Experimental Evidence from China" (with Lily Tsai, Minh Trinh, and Ping Zhang) World Development, 194: 107051.
(2024) Disgruntled Cadres: How Tax Reduction Undermines Rural Governance (with Mingxing Liu and Linke Hou) Governance, 37(3): 751-769.
(2024) “Do Gains in Political Representation Sweeten Tax Reform in China? It Depends on Who You Ask” (with Jay Kao and Didac Queralt) Political Science Research and Methods, 12(1):146-165.
Paper | Online Appendix | Replication Data
(2020) "Policy Coalition Building in an Authoritarian Legislature: Evidence from China’s National Assemblies (1983–2007)" (with Mingxing Liu and Feiyue Li) Comparative Political Studies, 53(9): 1380-1416
(2019) “The Sources of De Facto Power and Education Provision: Understanding Local Government Incentive in China” (with Mingxing Liu) Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 49 (2): 325-51.
(2018) “Does Performance Matter? Evaluating the Institution of Political Selection along the Chinese Administrative Ladder” (with Pierre Landry and Haiyan Duan) Comparative Political Studies, 51(8): 1074 – 1105.
Paper | Online Appendix | Replication Data
(2016) “Self-Centered Inequity Aversion and the Mass Politics of Taxation” (with Kenneth Scheve) Comparative Political Studies, 49 (14): 1965-97.
Paper | Online Appendix | Replication Data
(2015) “Intergovernmental Transfers and Local Education Provision – Evaluating China’s 8-7 National Plan for Poverty Reduction” China Economics Review, 33: 200-211.
(2014) “Show Me the Money: Interjurisdiction Political Competition and Fiscal Extraction in China” (with Pierre Landry) American Political Science Review, 108(3): 706-722.
(2014) “Social Policy and Regime Legitimacy: The Effects of Education Reform in China” American Political Science Review, 108(2): 423-437.
(2014) “Does Changing Economic Well-being Shape Opinion about Inequality in China?” Studies in Comparative International Development, 49(3): 300-320.
(2013) “Equality of Educational Opportunity and Attitudes toward Income Inequality: Evidence from China” Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 8(3): 271-303.
Paper | Online Appendix | Replication Data
(2012) “Inequity Aversion and the International Distribution of Trade Protection” (with Kenneth Scheve and Matthew J. Slaughter). American Journal of Political Science, 56(3): 638-654.
Paper | Online Appendix | Replication Data
Refereed Book Chapter
(2015) “China: Ethical Challenges in Comparative Politics Experiments.” In Ethics and Experiments: Problems and Solutions for Social Scientists and Policy Professionals, ed. Scott Desposato. London: Routledge.
Book Review
(2019) Book Review, Daniel Koss. Where the Party Rules: The Rank and File of China’s Communist State. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), The China Journal, 82 (July): 151-153.
(2017) Book review, Rory Truex. Making autocracy work: representation and responsiveness in modern China. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016), The China Quarterly, 232 (December): 1118-1119.
(2012) Book review, Andrew B. Kipnis. Governing Educational Desire: Culture, Politics, and Schooling in China (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011), Comparative Political Studies, 45(5): 667-670.
WORK IN PROGRESS
(Forthcoming) Taxation and Governance in Contemporary China (with Changdong Zhang) (Cambridge Elements in Chinese Economy and Governance)
The Legislative Battlefield: Bureaucratic Influence and Coalition Building in China's National Assemblies (with Mingxing Liu and Dong Zhang) (Under contract with Cambridge Elements in Politics and Society in East Asia)
Mobilized Compliance: When Do Political Parties Facilitate Wartime Fiscal Extraction?
The Fiscal Impact of Land Resources on Social Contention: Evidence from China (with Lynette Ong and Wenhui Yang)
Electronic Auditing, Tax Compliance, and Political Engagement (with Robin Yajie Wang)
TEACHING
Graduate-Level
Comparative Political Economy
Seminars on Chinese Politics
Undergraduate-Level
Politics in Contemporary China
State Building in China and Taiwan
Chinese Politics & Society in Films & Documentaries
Politics of Development Policies
Institutions and Comparative Political & Economic Development
.