Howard Liu

Howard Liu

Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science

University of South Carolina

About me

Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina.

My research focuses on state repression and political violence, particularly on how governments maintain political control through institutions such as the police, military, and courts, as well as through coercive tactics like direct violence, nonviolent coercion, and the use of spies and informants. I am particularly interested in how networks of dissent influence repression strategies. To this end, I am developing network analysis methods to enhance my research on repression and political violence.

Interests

  • State repression
  • Political violence
  • Authoritarian politics
  • Armed conflict
  • Network analysis

Education

  • PhD in Political Science, 2019

    Duke University

  • MS in Political Science, 2009

    National Taiwan University, Taiwan

  • BA in Diplomacy, 2007

    National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Research

The Law or the Career? Autocratic Judiciaries, Strategic Sentencing, and Political Repression

(2024) Published in Comparative Political Studies.

Spatial Modeling of Dyadic Geopolitical Interactions Between Moving Actors

(2022) Published in Political Science Research and Methods

And the Heat Goes On: Police Repression and the Modalities of Power

(2021). Published in Journal of Conflict Resolution.

Taking Dyads Seriously

(2021). Published in Political Science Research and Methods.

Hierarchy and the Provision of Order in International Politics

(2020). Published in The Journal of Politics.

Lost in Space: Geolocation in Event Data

(2018). Published in Political Science Research and Methods.