Gidong Kim

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I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of Missouri. I am also a 2022-2023 Graduate Fellow at Institute for Korean Studies at the University of Missouri.

I study comparative political behavior and economy in East Asia, with particular focus on nationalism and democracy, inequality and redistribution, immigration, and public opinion on foreign policy in South Korea. My work is published or forthcoming in journals such as Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Asian Perspective, Korea Observer, and State Politics & Policy Quarterly​.

My dissertation, "Nationalism and Redistribution in New Democracies: Nationalist Legacies of Authoritarian Regimes," investigates the micro-level underpinnings that sustain weak welfare system in developmental states. I argue that authoritarian leaders who encounter twin challenges of nation-building and modernization tend to utilize nationalism as an effective ruling and mobilizing strategy for national development. As a result, nationalism shaped under the authoritarianism can embed pro-development norms, which can powerfully shape citizens' preferences for redistribution even after democratization. I test my theoretical argument using a mixed-method approach, including in-depth interview, survey experiment, and cross-national survey data analysis.

My full CV is here.