I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. My research focuses on two broad themes: democratic representation and identity politics.
My first (coauthored) book project examines the extent to which common norms, identities, and ideas can reduce prejudice and discrimination against immigrants and ultimately facilitate their inclusion in democratic societies. My second book project, which won APSA’s Juan Linz Prize for Best Dissertation in the Comparative Study of Democracy in 2020, investigates how political parties and the nature of candidate selection institutions influence the relationship between elected representatives and their constituents in new democracies. I also have a series of papers and projects on these two themes.
I received my PhD in Political Science from UC Berkeley in 2018 and was previously a pre/postdoctoral fellow at the Identity & Conflict Lab, University of Pennsylvania.
You can reach me at dannychoi[at]pitt.edu
PhD in Political Science, 2018
University of California, Berkeley
MA in Political Science, 2012
University of California, Berkeley
BA in Economics, 2007
Korea University
This book argues that inter-group conflict between natives and immigrants can be decreased through shared social norms that define a common ingroup identity. Anti-immigrant bias is a form of ethnic conflict driven mainly by cultural differences.
This book project explores the conditions under which political parties can undermine the representation of citizen interests in new democracies. Conventional wisdom has emphasized the centrality of parties in mediating the relationship between voters and politicians, attributing the representational deficit observed across the developing world to the lack of stable partisan attachments or the ephemeral nature of political parties.