International Forum for Democratic Studies Research Council Member

R. William Liddle

Ohio State University

R. William Liddle is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Ohio State University and a specialist on Southeast Asian, particularly Indonesian, politics. He received his Ph.D. in political science at Yale University in 1967 and has taught at Ohio State since 1965.

Prof. Liddle’s current research focuses on political leadership, voting behavior, and popular attitudes toward Islamic politics in Indonesia. He has won recent research grants from the National Science Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Korea Research Foundation, and the Mershon Center at Ohio State. His most recent book is Marx atau Machiavelli? Menuju Demokrasi Bermutu di Indonesia dan Amerika [Marx or Machiavelli? Improving the Quality of Democracy in Indonesia and America], Jakarta: Yayasan Paramadina, 2011. Prof. Liddle has also published academic articles in the Journal of Democracy, Asian Survey, and Comparative Political Studies. In 2014 he published “Improving the Quality of Democracy in Indonesia: Toward a Theory of Action,” in Michele Ford and Thomas B. Pepinsky, eds., Beyond Oligarchy, 2014

At Ohio State, Prof. Liddle has been recognized as Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher in the Department of Political Science and Outstanding International Faculty Member by the Office of Academic Affairs. In Indonesia, a book of essays was published in his honor in 2008: Dari Columbus Untuk Indonesia: 70 Tahun Prof Bill Liddle Dari Murid dan Sahabat [From Columbus for Indonesia: 70 years of Prof Bill Liddle from Students and Friends], Jakarta: Gramedia, Freedom Institute and Nalar Publishers.

Prof. Liddle has served as chair of the Indonesia Committee and Southeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies, and as assistant editor for Southeast Asia of the Association’s Journal of Asian Studies. He is a recipient, with Thomas Pepinsky and Saiful Mujani, of the Franklin L. Burdette/Pi Sigma Alpha Award for best paper presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting in Toronto in 2009. Since 1998, he has served on the editorial board of Asian Survey. His work appears frequently in international and Indonesian media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Jakarta daily Kompas and Indonesian newsweekly Tempo.

Forum Publications

“Indonesia: Personalities, Parties, and Voters,” Journal of Democracy (Apr. 2010)

Share