James D. Long began conducting research with ESOC while he was a Ph.D. candidate in political science at UC San Diego and a research associate at the Center for the Study of African Political Economy.  He is currently an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Washington and an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. He is a faculty affiliate at the University of Washington's Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences (CSSS), Technology and Social Change Group (TASCHA), Near and Middle East Studies Program, and UC-Berkeley's Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA).

Previously, James was a dissertation fellow at the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, a Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar at the US Institute of Peace, and a Fulbright Scholar. His research in sub-Saharan Africa and Afghanistan focuses on elections in developing countries, including the determinants of voting behavior, the dynamics of electoral fraud, the impact of ICT and digital media on corruption monitoring, and the effects of civil war and insurgency on state-building.

James mixes quantitative, experimental, and qualitative field research methods, including household surveys, exit polls, field experiments, randomized control trials/impact evaluation, election forensics, and ethnography. His research has been funded by the US Agency for International Development, National Science Foundation, Qualcomm, UCSD, Democracy International, Development and Conflict Research, USIP, and Fulbright. His most recent work examines ways that ICT and digital media can address problems of information and human welfare in developing countries, building multi-channel platforms that drive citizen engagement, reporting, and monitoring on matters related to peace-building, elections, government performance, corruption, and service provision. In 2010, he served as Democracy Internationalʼs Research Director for their Election Observation mission for Afghanistan, and has observed elections in South Africa (2014), Kenya (2013, 2007), Egypt (2011), Uganda (2011), Afghanistan (2014, 2010, 2009), and Ghana (2008).

James received a PhD in Political Science from UC San Diego, an MSc (with Merit) in African Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and BA (High Honors) in International Relations and History from the College of William & Mary.