Newcastle University

Qualifications

PhD in political science, Masaryk University, Brno.
Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Previous Positions

I held positions at various universities, including

• Yale University (postdoc and lecturer)
• City University of Hong Kong (research fellow) 
• University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (postdoc at Wits Law School)
• Hong Kong Baptist University (visiting)
• University of Oxford, Nuffield College (visiting)
• Charles University, Prague, Department of Political Science (lecturer)
• Masaryk University, Brno, Dept of Philosophy & Civics (lecturer).
 

Memberships

APSA Experimental Research Section (no. 42)
APSA Political Psychology Section (no. 28)
Yale Alumni Association
International Society of Political Psychology
Centre for Russian, Central and East European Studies
Collaborative Research Network on Law and Society in East Asia
APSA Comparative Democratization Section (no. 35)
American Political Science Association (APSA)
International Political Science Association (only in 2003)
South African Political Studies Association (only in 2003)
Transitional Justice Research Network
Law & Society Association

Languages

Those few languages I can speak rapidly deteriorate.

Informal Interests

I love my family and I like FK Frydek-Mistek, football, dim sum, and the Arcade Fire.

Research Interests

I am political scientist by training but my research is fairly interdisciplinary, spanning political psychology, law and society, and comparative politics. My current research is in the area of transitional justice and reconciliation in divided societies. In particular, I examine lustration (vetting, screening) policies, international criminal courts, reparation of victims of human rights policies, truth commissions, and apology diplomacy. In my research, I like to use various experimental designs and survey experiments. I know very little about the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, South Africa, former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Burma/Myanmar, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

Other Expertise

I have also written on
• Corruption in Hong Kong;
• The HIV/Aids policy in China;
• Democratization (Central & Eastern Europe);
• Human Rights (the right to expression in the European and the US jurisprudence);
• Comparative Government (the control of the executive branch in different constitutional systems).

Current Work

I am currently working on a monograph that concerns reconciliation in divided societies. Based on my previous articles, the book outlines an alternative perspective on political crime and responses to it. It proposes a distributive theory of transitional justice and utilizes my research conducted in Central Europe, South East Europe, South Africa, and East Asia.

I have recently completed a major research project on lustrations and written a monograph on the topic. The book is motivated by the consequences of the Iraqi De-Baathification and examines the problem of personnel inherited in the apparatus of transitional states from previous regimes in Central Europe. Former officials and officers may not be criminally responsible for the human rights abuses but they may be tainted by their complicity with previous regimes. Based on my previous articles, the book has proposed the concept of personnel (lustration) systems and their classification into the exclusive, the inclusive, and the reconciliatory systems. Each of the systems represent a particular class of transitional justice: retribution, revelation, and reconciliation. Each system has a different propensity to establish trustworthy government and to foster social reconciliation. I have tested these hypotheses by means of survey experiments conducted in the Czech republic, Hungary, and Poland.

Future Research

My next research project will focus on the efficiency of anti-corruption measures. It will build on my article in Australian Journal of Political Science, entitled "Transitions to Clean Government", which examines the transformation of the culture of corruption in Hong Kong. In order to pursue this research further, I shall design survey experiments and field experiments in several countries in Asia.

Postgraduate Supervision

I am happy to supervise students in the following areas: comparative politics, democratization, and transitional justice (lustrations, reparations, truth commissions, international courts; amnesties; revenge, apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation). In particular, I welcome students who are willing to pursue a micro-level or experimental research.

Esteem Indicators

Visiting Positions:
• Chinese University of Hong Kong (Spring 2010)
• Yale University (Spring 2006; postdoc in 2006-07)
• Hong Kong Baptist University (2004-05)
• Nuffield College, Oxford University (1998-99).

In last ten years, I was invited to serve as an academic referee for International Journal of Transitional Justice, Journal of Politics, Journal of Historical Sociology, Law and Society Review, Law and Social Inquiry, Comparative Political Studies, Ethics and International Affairs, Political Research Quarterly, Europe-Asia Studies, and Journal of Peace Research.

Funding

2009 – 2010 British Academy Small Research Grant on Transitional Justice

2005 – 2007 United States Institute of Peace, “Social Effects of Lustration Systems” (Principal Investigator) (with Susanne YP Choi, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Christopher Roederer, Florida Coastal School of Law, and Marketa Moore, City University of Hong Kong).

2002 – 2004 Post-Doctoral Research Grant, South African National Research Foundation.

Projects

• The Utility of Transitional Justice in the Czech Republic
  Project Leader(s): Dr Roman David
• The Utility of Transitional Justice in the Czech Republic
  Project Leader(s): Dr Roman David

Undergraduate Teaching

POL1018 Studying Politics I: Study Skills and Techniques, and Theories of the State (module leader)
POL3087 Democratization in Central Europe 1989-2004 (module leader)
POL3091 Transitional Justice (module leader)

Postgraduate Teaching

POL8037 Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Conflict Societies (module leader)
POL8038 Doing Political Research (module leader)
HSS8005 Quantitative Methods.

• David R. Lustration and Transitional Justice: Personnel Systems in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA: Pennsylvania University Press, 2011.
• Choi SYP, David R. Lustration Systems and Trust: Evidence from Survey Experiments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. American Journal of Sociology 2012, 117(4), 1172-1201.
• David R, Holliday I. International Sanctions or International Justice? Shaping the Future in Myanmar. Australian Journal of International Affairs 2012, 66(2), 121-138.
• David R. The Utility of Transitional Justice in the Czech Republic. Europe-Asia Studies 2012, (forthcoming).
• David R. Transitions to Clean Government: Amnesty as Anticorruption Measure. Australian Journal of Political Science 2010, 45(3), 391–406.
• David R, Choi SYP. Getting Even, or Getting Equal? Retributive Desires and Transitional Justice. Political Psychology 2009, 30(2), 161-192.
• David R, Choi SYP. Forgiveness and transitional justice in the Czech Republic. Journal of Conflict Resolution 2006, 50(3), 339-367.
• David R. From Prague to Baghdad: Lustration systems and their political effects. Government and Opposition 2006, 41(3), 347-372.
• David R. In exchange for truth: The Polish lustration & the South African amnesty process. Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies 2006, 32(1), 81-99.
• David R, Holliday I. Set the Junta free: Pre-transitional justice in Myanmar’s democratization. Australian Journal of Political Science 2006, 41(1), 91-105.
• David R, Choi SYP. Victims on transitional justice: lessons from the reparation of human rights abuses in the Czech Republic. Human Rights Quarterly 2005, 27(2), 392-435.
• David R. Transitional injustice? Criteria for conformity of lustration to the right to political expression. Europe-Asia Studies 2004, 56(6), 789-812.
• David R. Lustration laws in action: The motives and evaluation of lustration policy in the Czech Republic and Poland (1989-2001). Law and Social Inquiry 2003, 28(2), 387-439.
• David R. Retribution. In: Stan, L; Nedelsky, N, ed. The Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice. Cambridge University Press, 2012. In Press.
• Choi SYP, David R. Law Enforcement, Public Health, and HIV/AIDS in China.. In: Harris PG; Siplon PD, ed. The Global Politics of AIDS. London: Lynne Rienner, 2007.
• David R. Office for Investigation and Prosecution of Communist Crimes. In: Stan, L; Nedelsky, N, ed. The Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp.submitted. In Press.
• David R. Symbolic Meaning of Historical Injustices and the Attitudes of South Korean Students to Japan’s Policy of Dealing with the Past. In: Regional Reconciliation: Korea and North-East Asia. 2010, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.
• David R. Ustava CR a Listina zakladnich prav a svobod. Olomouc: Nakladatelstvi Olomouc, 2005.
• David R. Politologie: Zaklady spolecenskych ved. Olomouc: Nakladatelstvi Olomouc, 2007.
• David R. Is World War II over in Asia? The symbolic meaning of dealing with the past in international politics. In: Europe-Asia: Building Multilateralism. 2005, Hong Kong Baptist University: Department of Government and International Studies.
• David R. Transitions to clean government: The effects of amnesty as an anticorruption measure. In: Second APISA Congress. 2005, City University of Hong Kong: APISA.
• David R. Victims on the truth commission: The reparation of victims of human rights abuses in South Africa. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. 2005, Washington, D.C.: APSA.
• David R. Stabilita mensinove vlady a Ustavni system CR. Politologicky Casopis 1998, 5(3).
• David R. Spravedlnost versus Legalita. Politologicky Casopis 1997, 4(3).
• David R. Otazka ustavnosti volebnich kauci. Politologicky Casopis 1996, 3(4).
• David R. Rehabilitation of Political Prisoners. In: Stan, L; Nedelsky, N, ed. The Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp.submitted. In Press.
• David R. The Czech Republic. In: Stan, L; Nedelsky, N, ed. The Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice. Cambridge University Press, 2012. In Press.