Rate My Professor John Ishiyama

John T. Ishiyama is University Distinguished Research Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at the University of North Texas. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University in 1992 with a dissertation on electoral rules, ethnic politics, and political party development in new democracies; an M.A. from the University of Michigan's Center for Russian and East European Studies in 1985; and a B.A. from Bowling Green State University in Political Science and History in 1982. His career includes positions at Truman State University from 1990 to 2008, progressing from Assistant Professor to Professor and Director of the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. He joined the University of North Texas in 2008 as Professor, was appointed University Distinguished Research Professor in 2012, and became Department Chair in 2022. Ishiyama has held prominent leadership roles, including President of the American Political Science Association (2021-2022), Editor-in-Chief of the American Political Science Review (2012-2016), and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Political Science Education (2004-2012). He directed the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates program on Civil Conflict Management and Peace Science at UNT from 2010 to 2020.

Ishiyama's research specializes in comparative politics, with focuses on democratization, political parties in post-communist Russia, Europe, Eurasia, and Africa (particularly Ethiopia), ethnic conflict, ethnic politics, rebel groups transforming into political parties, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. His major publications include books such as The Effects of Rebel Parties on Governance, Democracy and Stability after Civil Wars: From Guns to Governing (2022, co-edited with Gyda Sindre), From Bullets to Ballots: The Transformation of Rebel Groups into Political Parties (2017), Comparative Politics: Principles of Democracy and Democratization (2012), and Communist Successor Parties in Post-Communist Politics (1999). Recent articles feature 'Why do civil war successor parties renounce violence?' in the Journal of Politics (2025) and 'Who is attracted to the Chinese Model in Africa?' in the Journal of Asian and African Studies (2023). He has received numerous awards, including the UNT Foundation Eminent Faculty Award (2020), Minnie Stevens Piper Professorship (2017), APSA Frank J. Goodnow Award for Service (2018), APSA Distinguished Teaching Award (2015), and ISA-Midwest Excellence in Teaching & Mentoring Award (2020). Ishiyama serves on editorial boards for journals like Party Politics, Social Science Quarterly, and International Studies Perspectives, and has garnered over 12,500 citations on Google Scholar.