Michael Steven Fish (born August 3, 1962) is a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests include democracy, authoritarianism, postcommunist countries, legislatures and constitutional systems, economic reform, and religion and politics.
Fish writes and comments extensively on international affairs and the rising challenges to democracy in the United States and around the world. He is a commentator in the media, including BBC World News, CNN, and other major networks, and has published in "The New York Times"", The Washington Post"", Los Angeles Times"", The American Interest"", The Daily Beast"", Slate", and "Foreign Policy""."
He studied international relations, economics and history at Cornell University and Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Fish received his Ph.D. in political science from Stanford in 1993. In addition to UC Berkeley, Fish has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Senior Fulbright Fellow and Visiting Professor at the Airlangga University in Indonesia and the European University at St. Petersburg in Russia.
Scholarship.
Fish's most recent book, "Comeback: Routing Trumpism, Reclaiming the Nation, and Restoring Democracy’s Edg"e (2024), examines the causes of democracy’s current crisis in America and proposes a new approach to campaign messaging for Democrats.
In "Are Muslims Distinctive? A Look at the Evidence" (2011), Fish tests a range of notions about Muslims and their political orientations. He finds little support for many prevailing stereotypes, including the view that Muslims are committed to fusing religious and political authority and are more prone to violence. He also finds that homicide rates and class-based inequalities are generally lower in predominantly Muslim societies.
Fish’s work also includes research on legislatures and their role in democratic governance. His coauthored book, "The Handbook of National Legislatures (2009)", measures the powers of the national legislature in every country in the world. He served as the Project Manager for the Legislatures section of the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project. In an article, “Stronger Legislatures, Stronger Democracies” (2006) he argued that vesting substantial power in national legislatures is vital to sustaining democratic regimes.
In "Democracy Derailed in Russia: The Failure of Open Politics" (2005), Fish investigated the demise of Russia’s democratic experiment in the 21st century. He argued that Russian democrats’ failure to build a strong civil society, along with flaws in their economic reform program, Russia’s hydrocarbons-based economy, and the country’s “superpresidential” constitution paved the way for the resurrection of autocracy under Vladimir Putin.
Fish’s earlier work focused on Russia’s democratization after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In "Democracy from Scratch: Opposition and Regime in the New Russian Revolution" (1995), which was based on two years of fieldwork in Russia during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Fish argued that Russia’s democratic breakthrough, while momentous and impressive, might prove short-lived given the lack of emergence of a realm of robust civil society organizations.
References.
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