Education

Ph.D., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 2002

Degree awarded in Foreign Affairs with concentrations in Comparative Politics/Southeast Asia

Dissertation: Streams of Least Resistance: the Institutionalization of Political Parties and Democracy in Indonesia

The dissertation focused on the institutionalization of the party system in Indonesia, the reasons behind observed levels of institutionalization, and the meaning of the level of institutionalization for the consolidation of democracy in the country. Different levels of institutionalization along the different criteria proposed by Scott Mainwaring and Timothy Scully in their book Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America for evaluating party system institutionalization have created a uniquely bad outcome in Indonesia. The country's parties are at once strong and weak. And, they are strong in ways that make their weaknesses all the more dangerous. Particularly, party rooting produces a decidedly negative outcome rather than the positive one often highlighted by party system scholars. The rootedness of Indonesia's parties in the country's communal groups challenges stability, the legitimacy of the party system, and the legitimacy of democracy. See the final chapter.

M.P.A., Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, California, 1991

Degree awarded in International Public Administration with a concentration in International Management and Chinese Language

Master's Thesis: The Chinese Bureaucracy in the Post-Mao Period: Revolutionary Change or a Return to Balance? An Analysis of the Administrative Problems, Political Issues and Social Dilemmas of the Chinese Bureaucracy

B.A., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1988

Major in Asian Studies with a concentration in Chinese Affairs

Special Academic Programs

Visiting Fellow, The Habibie Center, Jakarta, Indonesia, July 2004.  Conducted research on Indonesian political parties, monitored Indonesia’s first-ever direct presidential elections.

Visiting Fellow, Institute for the Study of Economy and Society (LPEM), University of Indonesia (Salemba), Jakarta, Indonesia, 2000.  Conducted dissertation research.

Southeast Asian Summer Studies Institute, Madison, Wisconsin and Tempe, Arizona, 1994, 1997.  Completed two intensive sessions of Indonesian language training.

Visiting Student, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 1991-1992.  Attended courses on domestic politics and foreign policies of Singapore and the other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states. Research focus was Singapore's crafting of a "post-Cambodia" foreign policy. Recipient of Fulbright Scholarship.

Fellowships and Awards

Faculty Travel Grant, UNCW Office of International Programs, for travel to India to establish new study abroad program, May 2008

Named by one or more graduating students as the UNCW faculty member whose influence was most valued (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008)

“Bleeding Paper Award” (light-hearted, for profuse commenting on student written assignments), UNCW Political Science Club, 2005

United Nations Foundation Mini-grant for US Foreign Policy Debate, 2003

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for Indonesian Language Study, 1997

Mrs. Charles A. Bryant Fellowship, University of Virginia, 1996

Ellen Bayard Weedon Grant, University of Virginia, 1995

DuPont Fellowship, University of Virginia, 1994-1995

Outstanding Teaching Assistant, Department of Government and Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia, 1994

Governor's Fellowship, University of Virginia, 1993-1994

Fulbright Scholarship, 1991-1992

Page updated July 7, 2008.

Problems? Contact the author at tanp@uncw.edu