Jianzi He

Jianzi He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Practice in Political Science at NYU Shanghai. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from The Ohio State University in 2021. Before joining NYU Shanghai, he was an Assistant Professor at Fudan University and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Duke Kunshan University. He studies state capacity, local governance, and China’s evolving political economy, with a broad agenda to unpack the complex role of the state in governance, development, and innovation. His current projects examine state–society relations, intergovernmental collaborative networks, and local government accountability.
 

Selected Publications

• Li, Ya, and Jianzi He. (2025). “Public Policy in China: Navigating Political Particularity and Global Convergence.” In Handbook of Public Policy in Asia, edited by Ora-orn Poocharoen, Piyapong Boossabong, and Pobsook Chamchong, 274–286. Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Jianzi He. (2024). “The Price of Losing Autonomy: Assessing the Economic Impact of County-to-District Mergers in China.” Urban Affairs Review, 60(6), 1839–1870.
• Jianzi He and Yijia Jing. (2024). “Subnational Government and Governance in China.” In Handbook on Subnational Governments and Governance, edited by Claudia N. Avellaneda and Ricardo A. Bello-Gómez, 166–179. Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Jianzi He and Kyle Jaros. (2023). “The Multilevel Politics of County-to-District Mergers in China.” Journal of Contemporary China, 32(144), 932–950.
• You can track my research progress at https://jianzihe-research.github.io/

Education

• PhD, Political Science 
  The Ohio State University
• MA, Public Administration 
  Beijing Institute of Technology
• BA, Public Administration 
  Shandong University