Political Science Faculty

Jingyuan Qian studies comparative political institutions, state-building, and political economy, with a regional focus on China and East Asia. His book project, Statebuilding by Campaign: The Making of the Modern Chinese Bureaucracy, 1949–1976, examines the mechanisms employed by the Chinese party-state under Mao Zedong to manage and control subordinate bureaucrats during the first three decades of the People's Republic of China.  

Qian’s research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, including Comparative Politics, Studies in Comparative International Development, The China Quarterly, Ethnopolitics, and The Routledge Handbook of Anti-Corruption Research and Practice. His interviews and commentaries have been featured in global media outlets, including Bloomberg TV, The Atlantic, South China Morning Post, Made in China Journal, The Initium Media, and Azerbaijan's ARB24 News.

At Boston College, Qian teaches courses in Chinese and East Asian politics, comparative politics, and formal theory. Prior to joining Boston College, Qian served as an Earl S. Johnson Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Chicago (2023–25) and as an Associate in Research at the Duke-Margolis Institute at Duke University (2016–18).

Qian was born and raised in China. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University, and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and History from Macalester College.