The Comparative Pledges Project (CPP)
Professor Robert Thomson co-founded the Comparative Pledges Project, an international network of scholars studying the conditions under which politicians keep and break the campaign promises they make to voters when they enter government office.
Campaign promises or election pledges are important to the functioning of representative democracy. By making pledges on the future direction of government policy during election campaigns, and fulfilling those pledges if elected to govern, parties link public opinion to public policies. Ensuring a strong connection between public opinion and government policies is a fundamental democratic ideal.
The Comparative Pledges Project (CPP) is an international network of researchers who study election pledges in a wide range of countries. CPP researchers coordinate their research practices, including how they identify and code pledges, to ensure that their findings are as comparable as possible across countries. The researchers identify election pledges based on a common definition of pledges that requires those commitments to be testable, and they assess whether those pledges are fulfilled or broken using similar standards of evidence.
Today, the CPP network connects more than 60 researchers who are studying election pledges in 16 countries around the world. The researchers have produced both detailed country studies and comparative studies that draw on the evidence from these individual studies. This website (https://comparativepledges.net/ ) contains further information on relevant publications, ongoing projects and upcoming events.
(Anti)corruption Research
Professor Jiangnan Zhu, an expert on (anti)corruption research, an Associate of the Rutgers Institute on Anti-Corruption Studies and is a member of Transparency International’s Anti-Corruption Expert Network. She collaborates with scholars and practitioners across Asia, United States, and Europe conducting research on the political economy of corruption and anticorruption, with a particular focus on China.
Her projects also extend to business-government relations, elite politics and public opinions. She also contributes to the academic community by serving as Editor of Journal of Chinese Political Science, editorial board member of Public Administration, Asian Review of Political Economy, and China Public Administration Review, reviewers of various journals, grants, and prizes, and playing a leading role in organizing local and international conferences.
China’s Global Development Finance Project
Professor Austin Strange collaborates with an international group of researchers and practitioners on China’s global development finance.
Governance and Regulatory Research on AI and Emerging Digital Technologies
Professor Kwan Nok Chan collaborates with data scientists, climate scientists, and tech industry professionals to research AI and other emerging digital technologies from the governance and regulatory perspective.
Research on Costly Signaling Theory and Its Influence on Artificial Intelligence Policy
Professor Kai Quek’s research on costly signals has shaped policy discourse on artificial intelligence (AI); his theory was cited as the main framework in an influential report by Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.
Climate-Ocean-Health Study Interdisciplinary Observer Network (COHESION)
Climate-Ocean-Health Study Interdisciplinary Observer Network (COHESION) is a research collaboration program jointly organised by the Centre on Contemporary China and the World (CCCW) and the Shanghai Sci-Tech Inno Center for Infection & Immunity (SICII), in conjunction with the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science at Xiamen University (XMU), among others.
The goal of COHESION is to convene leading experts in climate change, marine conservation, public health, and public policy to conduct original research, establish regular monitoring systems, and facilitate discussions on public policy. The program aims to leverage the resources of relevant institutions, departments, and stakeholders both regionally and internationally. Through academic seminars, policy analysis, and public dialogue, COHESION aims to produce interdisciplinary, multidimensional, and high-quality research outcomes with significant public health implications.
During the Pujiang Innovation Forum 2024 on April 27, CCCW and the SICII signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Professor LI Cheng, Founding Director of CCCW, and Professor ZHANG Wenhong, Director of SICII, represented their respective institutions during the signing ceremony. In 2024, COHESION has hosted three workshops in April at HKU, in June at Fudan University, and in December at XMU. Around 50 leading experts in relevant areas have participated in the program.
International Think Tank Research and Evaluation Symposium (ITTRES)
The International Think Tank Research and Evaluation Symposium (ITTRES) is a research collaboration program jointly organised by the Centre on Contemporary China and the World (CCCW) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the China Think Tank Research Center (CTTREC) at Nanjing University (NJU), supported by funding from the Jiangsu-Hong Kong-Macao University Alliance (JHMUA) Open Bid Funding 2024-2025.
The aim of ITTRES is to facilitate exchange and evaluation between Chinese and foreign think tanks by engaging experts and scholars in this area. ITTRES plans to collaborate with influential international partners to release a global think tank directory or ranking list at appropriate times, promoting the advancement of China’s new think tank decision-making models, and policy advisory methods. The program aims to foster exploration and communication of new social science research paradigms in relevant fields.
On December 16, 2024, CCCW and CTTREC successfully hosted the inaugural ITTRES event. Over 20 top Hong Kong and Mainland think tank leaders, practitioners, and researchers gathered both online and offline to engage in discussions and share insights under the theme “A Decade of Chinese New Think Tank Development: Retrospect and Prospect.” Professor LI Cheng, Founding Director of CCCW, delivered the opening speech, while Professor LI Gang, Director of CTTREC, presented three new specialised books on think tank evaluation. CCCW and CTTREC also convened a closed-door workshop later on the “Think Tank Research and Evaluation Joint Research Program.”
Climate-Ocean-Health Study Interdisciplinary Observer Network (COHESION)
Climate-Ocean-Health Study Interdisciplinary Observer Network (COHESION) is a research collaboration programme jointly organised by the Centre on Contemporary China and the World (CCCW) and the Shanghai Sci-Tech Inno Center for Infection & Immunity (SICII), in conjunction with the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science at Xiamen University (XMU), among others.
The goal of COHESION is to convene leading experts in climate change, marine conservation, public health, and public policy to conduct original research, establish regular monitoring systems, and facilitate discussions on public policy. The programme aims to leverage the resources of relevant institutions, departments, and stakeholders both regionally and internationally. Through academic seminars, policy analysis, and public dialogue, COHESION aims to produce interdisciplinary, multidimensional, and high-quality research outcomes with significant public health implications.
During the Pujiang Innovation Forum 2024 on April 27, CCCW and the SICII signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Professor LI Cheng, Founding Director of CCCW, and Professor ZHANG Wenhong, Director of SICII, represented their respective institutions during the signing ceremony. In 2024, COHESION has hosted three workshops in April at HKU, in June at Fudan University, and in December at XMU. So far, around 50 leading experts in relevant areas have participated in the programme.
International Think Tank Research and Evaluation Symposium (ITTRES)
The International Think Tank Research and Evaluation Symposium (ITTRES) is a research collaboration programme jointly organised by the Centre on Contemporary China and the World (CCCW) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the China Think Tank Research Center (CTTREC) at Nanjing University (NJU), supported by funding from the Jiangsu-Hong Kong-Macao University Alliance (JHMUA) Open Bid Funding 2024-2025.
The aim of ITTRES is to facilitate exchange and evaluation between Chinese and foreign think tanks by engaging experts and scholars in this area. ITTRES plans to collaborate with influential international partners to release a global think tank directory or ranking list at appropriate times, promoting the advancement of China’s new think tank decision-making models, and policy advisory methods. The programme aims to foster exploration and communication of new social science research paradigms in relevant fields.
On December 16, 2024, CCCW and CTTREC successfully hosted the inaugural ITTRES event. Over 20 top Hong Kong and Mainland think tank leaders, practitioners, and researchers gathered both online and offline to engage in discussions and share insights under the theme “A Decade of Chinese New Think Tank Development: Retrospect and Prospect.” Professor LI Cheng, Founding Director of CCCW, delivered the opening speech, while Professor LI Gang, Director of CTTREC, presented three new specialised books on think tank evaluation. CCCW and CTTREC also convened a closed-door workshop later on the “Think Tank Research and Evaluation Joint Research Programme.”
