Research ·
Launching the Japanese Municipal Elections Dataset (JMED)
I'm excited to share the dataset behind my book project: the Japanese Municipal Elections Dataset (JMED)!
Read moreCharles T. McClean
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Yale University
I study comparative politics, with a focus on the politics of age and Japan. My work asks why young people are so rarely elected, what changes when they are, and how population aging reshapes democracy and policymaking. I combine quasi-experimental analysis of large original datasets with survey experiments, fieldwork, and interviews in Japan. Currently, I am completing a book manuscript, Silver Democracy: Youth Representation in an Aging Japan.
Book project
Silver Democracy
Why are young people underrepresented in elected office? And what changes for policy and democracy when they win?
About the bookDataset · v1.0
Japanese Municipal Elections Dataset (JMED)
223,561 candidates in 21,111 mayoral and assembly elections across 2,027 municipalities, 2005–2025. Open data with an interactive map.
Explore JMEDNews
All news
Delighted to serve again on the selection committee for the U.S.-Japan Foundation Young Mayors of Japan Award alongside Governor Toshihito Kumagai and Lin Kobayashi.
Second piece of good news: my paper with Aksel Sundström and Daniel Stockemer, Youth Representation and Democratic Legitimacy, is now forthcoming at the British Journal…
Happy to share two pieces of good news. First, my job market paper, Does Youth Representation Matter for Social Spending?, is online at the Journal of Politics.
The Japan Forum on International Relations has released policy recommendations on deepening U.S.-Japan cooperation beyond security. My chapter looks at what aging and demographic change mean for the alliance.