Research Themes
Three connected lines of inquiry
My work asks how citizens hold representatives accountable — through relative performance judgments, economic voting, and the health of elections themselves.
Theme I: Keeping Up with the Joneses — Relative Policy Performance and Political Support
How does relative policy performance affect political support for political elites and institutions?
Related papers
- "The relative economy and trust in government and approval rate: The moderating role of clarity of responsibility." Political Science, 77(2–3): 244–262. (with Junho Jo & Hongjun Yu)
- "Public support for government and leaders during the COVID-19 crisis?" International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 2025, 37(3): 1–22. (with Jungsub Shin)
- "Benchmarking the Pandemic: How do citizens react to domestic COVID-19 conditions compared to other countries." Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 2024, 34(2): 191–211. (with Jungsub Shin)
- "How does Economic Openness affect the Relative Economic Voting?" European Political Science Review, 2023, 15(4): 561–581.
- "How does a Relative Economy affect Voter Turnout?" Political Behavior, 2023, 45(3): 855–875.
- "Compared to What? Media-guided Reference Points & Relative Economic Voting." Electoral Studies, 2019, 62(102085).
Theme II: Economics and Politics
Revisiting the Vote-Popularity Function.
Related papers
- "The economy and satisfaction with democracy: The moderating role of clarity of responsibility." European Political Science Review, forthcoming. (with Mary Stegmaier)
- "Who is satisfied with democracy? An individual-level analysis on the economy, satisfaction with democracy, and perceived accountability." Under review. (with Mary Stegmaier)
- "Economics, Politics, and Popularity Function: Past, Present and Future." In Economics and Politics Revisited: Executive Approval and the New Calculus of Support, Eds. Timothy Hellwig & Matthew M. Singer, Oxford University Press, 2023. (with Mary Stegmaier & Michael Lewis-Beck)
- "Who is Responsible? The Effect of Clarity of Responsibility on Voter Turnout?" West European Politics, 2019, 42(3): 464–494. (with Nikolaos Frantzeskakis & Jungsub Shin)
- "Do the Welfare Benefits Weaken the Economic Vote? A Cross-National Analysis of the Welfare State and Economic Voting." International Political Science Review, 2019, 40(1): 108–125. (with Jungsub Shin)
- "The VP-Function: A Review." In The SAGE Handbook of Electoral Behaviour, Eds. Kai Arzheimer, Jocelyn Evans & Michael S. Lewis-Beck, Sage, 2017. (with Michael S. Lewis-Beck & Mary Stegmaier)
- "Relative Economy and Executive Approval Rate: A macro and micro-level analysis." Data collection in progress.
Theme III: Quality of Elections & Democratization
Do elections promote democratic consolidation?
Related papers
- "Who supports martial law in a democracy? Lessons from South Korea." R&R, Political Studies. (with Inkwan Chung)
- "Populism, Ideology, and the Endorsement of Martial Law: A Conditional Relationship." Government & Opposition, 2026, 61. (with Julia Jung)
- "The economy, affective polarization, and delegative democratic attitude." R&R, Political Research Quarterly. (with Yuko Sato)
- "When do Agents Deliver the Vote? Vote-Popularity Function in Electoral Manipulations." Democratization, 2025, 32(2): 243–269.
- "Armed and Dangerous: Legacies of Incumbent-Military Ties and Electoral Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa." Electoral Studies, 2022. (with Nikolaos Frantzeskakis)
- "How do Sanctions Affect Incumbent Electoral Performance?" Political Research Quarterly, 2019, 72(3): 744–759.
- "A Domestic Political Consequence of Foreign Policy Crisis: Economic sanction and domestic violence during elections." In progress.