My name is Qi Jing, and I am a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a political theorist, I have specific interests in state theory, democratic theory, Chinese political thought, Chinese politics, and comparative political theory. My primary research focuses on theories of statehood and popular sovereignty in modern China.Taking inspiration from Chinese political thought, I defend a non-liberal theory of limited government rooted in an organicist conception of state authority.

My current book project, Holistic Dynamism: A Chinese Conception of the State, builds on my dissertation to articulate and defend a theory of the state informed by Chinese historical and philosophical perspectives. This theory envisions the state as a holistic, dynamic entity that prioritizes the well-being of its people while preserving the autonomy of its internal institutions. Unlike liberal models that derive limited government from popular sovereignty or social contract theory, this approach roots state authority and constraint in an organicist conception of the state as a concrete person. Such a state is strong enough to combat private power hierarchies yet restrained enough to safeguard institutional independence and individual autonomy, demonstrating how different theories of sovereignty and limited government can exist and be defended without relying solely on liberal terms.

My second book project, A New State of Democracy: The Contribution of Chinese Political Thought to 21st Century State Theory, examines the possibility, merits, and limitations of a democratic state without a democratic government, further advancing the case for a non-liberal, non-contractarian conception of limited government.

My writing has appeared in Chinese Political Science Review, Comparative Philosophy, and Philosophy & Social Criticism. I have received the Graduate Dean’s Scholar Award and the Shapiro Family Fellowship at UCLA. In addition to my research, I serve as Treasurer of the International Society for Comparative Studies of Chinese and Western Philosophy (ISCWP) and as Student Coordinator for the UCLA Political Theory Workshop.

Education

PhD in Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles (expected June 2025)
MA in Social Sciences, University of Chicago (2020)
Honours in Philosophy, University of Sydney (2019)
BA in Political Science and Philosophy, Australian National University (2018)