Rory Truex
Rory Truex is Associate Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. His research focuses on Chinese politics and authoritarian systems.
He hosts Civic Forum, a video podcast and speaker series on the biggest issues facing democracy, in the U.S. and elsewhere.
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Academic research
Cerny, Michael, and Rory Truex. 2026. “From Altitude to Attitude: Localized Exposure to the 2023 Chinese Balloon Incident and American Security Attitudes.” Working paper, under review.
Cerny, Michael, and Rory Truex. 2026. “Under Pressure: China Attitudes Among American Foreign Policy Elites.” Working paper, under review.
Truex, Rory, and Alexis Dale-Huang. 2026. “The End of Exchange: Assessing NSF-Funded China Research.” Working paper, under review.
Han, Ze, Rory Truex, and Naijia Liu. 2025. “Measuring Political Attitudes with Word Association.” Public Opinion Quarterly.
Truex, Rory. 2024. “Researching China in Hard Times.” PS: Political Science & Politics 57 (1): 146–148.
Arceneaux, Kevin, and Rory Truex. 2023. “Donald Trump and the Lie.” Perspectives on Politics 21 (3): 863–879.
Hou, Yue, and Rory Truex. 2022. “Ethnic Discrimination and Authoritarian Rule: An Analysis of Criminal Sentencing in China.” The Journal of Politics 84 (4): 2294–2299.
Truex, Rory. 2022. “Political Discontent in China is Associated with Isolating Personality Traits.” The Journal of Politics 84 (4): 2172–2186.
Shen, Xiaoxiao, and Rory Truex. 2021. “In Search of Self-Censorship.” British Journal of Political Science 51 (4): 1672–1684.
Greitens, Sheena Chestnut, and Rory Truex. 2020. “Repressive Experiences in the China Field: New Evidence from Survey Data.” The China Quarterly 242: 349–375.
Truex, Rory. 2020. “Authoritarian Gridlock? Haste and Delay in the Chinese Legislative System.” Comparative Political Studies 53 (9): 1455–1492.
Truex, Rory, and Daniel L. Tavana. 2019. “Implicit Attitudes Toward an Authoritarian Regime.” The Journal of Politics 81 (3): 1014–1027.
Truex, Rory. 2019. “Focal Points, Dissident Calendars, and Preemptive Repression.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 63 (4): 1032–1052.
Truex, Rory. 2017. “Consultative Authoritarianism and Its Limits.” Comparative Political Studies 50 (3): 329–361.
Truex, Rory. 2017. “The Myth of the Democratic Advantage.” Studies in Comparative International Development 52 (3): 261–277.
Truex, Rory. 2016. Making Autocracy Work: Representation and Responsiveness in Modern China. Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Tai, Qiuqing, and Rory Truex. 2015. “Public Opinion Towards Return Migration: A Survey Experiment of Chinese Netizens.” The China Quarterly 223: 770–786.
Truex, Rory. 2014. “The Returns to Office in a ‘Rubber Stamp’ Parliament.” American Political Science Review 108 (2): 235–251.
Substack essays
Word of the Week: Trash-talking Democracy
Our Authoritarian Year: 2025 in Review
What Do I Do in a Time Like This?
Civic Forum episodes
Will AI Create Permanent Dictatorships?
The Prospects for Democracy in Iran
How Trump Has Changed the Presidency
Trump's Authoritarianism: The View from Europe
National Security Leaders Sound the Alarm on Trump's Authoritarianism
Trump and the New International (Dis)order
Trump, Maduro, and the Crisis in Venezuela
Who's Actually Solving Problems in Congress?
Laboratories Against Democracy
The State and Stakes of U.S.-China Relations
Op-eds & commentary
Let's All Take a Deep Breath About China
The Anti-China Academic Panic is Hurting America
Where Have All the American China Experts Gone?
China's Blank-Paper Protests Are Only a Beginning
Hu Jintao's Exit Was Mysterious. Xi Jinping's Power Play Is Not.
What the Fear of China is Doing to American Science
China's Chernobyl Never Seems to Arise
Colleges Should All Stand Up to China
China's National People's Congress is Meeting This Week. Don't Expect Checks and Balances.
Talks and interviews
Xi Jinping is the Dictator the West Doesn't Get
Why Americans Need to Study China
Under Pressure: China Discourse in the U.S. Foreign Policy Community
Preference Falsification and Regime Stability
The Psychology of Political Discontent in China
Charting the Ideological Spectrum and Public Opinion in China
Is There Really an Epidemic of Self-Censorship Among China Scholars?
Chinese Politics & Authoritarian Regimes
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