Seonhee Kim

Seonhee Kim is interested in the politics of authoritarian and hybrid regimes in the region of Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe, covering the topics of electoral authoritarianism, state repression, human rights, social movements, space security, and the welfare state. Her work broadly speaks to the field of comparative politics and political economy. Her doctoral research focuses on judicial measures used to repress civil society at large in Russia since the Bolotnaya protest in 2012. The dissertation project investigates how the use of officially established procedures for the state’s coercion in the pursuit of regime legitimacy results in an unexpectedly moderate level of repression in Russia. Another ongoing project probes the relationship between social movements and the competitiveness of elections under authoritarian states.

Seonhee Kim presented her research in several conferences, such as International Junior Workshop for Slavic and Eurasian Studies at UCL, U.K (2016), MPSA, Chicago (2018), REECAS NW at UW (2018), and APSA, Washington D.C. (2019). Before joining the Jackson School Ph.D. program, she received her B.A. from Incheon University and M.A. from Seoul National University, South Korea.

Publications

• “Judicial Measures as State Repression under Authoritarian State: the case of Russia, 2010-2017″ at APSA (American Political Science Association), Sept. 2019, Washington D.C.
• “State Repression under Authoritarian Regimes: Theoretical Review.” at REECAS NW 2018, University of Washington, Apr. 2018, Seattle
• “Electoral Authoritarianism in Russia: the Logic of Gubernatorial Appointment 2012-2017.” at MPSA (Midwest Political Science Association), Apr. 2018, Chicago
• “Forming State-Society Relationship in Transition: Post-Socialist Political Economy, the Case of Russia,” at Post-Communism 25+: Reflections on Social, Economic & Political Transitions, Oct. 2016, Issuk Kul, Kyrgyzstan.
• “Government Responses to Protests in Authoritarian Regimes : Perspectives of Government and Civil Society and Analyzing Framework,” at International Junior Workshop for Slavic and Eurasian Studies, Sept. 2016, UCL SSEES, London, UK. – University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
• Clint, Work., & Seonhee, Kim. (2016). It’s Not About the Moon: The Military and Economic Logics to South Korean Space Exploration. SinoNK.
• “The Compatibility between Political and Economic Development in Post Socialist Region: the Comparative Case of Poland and Russia,” at The Korean Association of International Studies Annual Conference, Dec. 2012, Seoul, Korea

Grants & Fellowships

• SSI (Space Security Initiative) Junior Fellow, IPI, Jackson School of International Studies, 2015-2016.
• Ph.D. Program Research Assistant, University of Washington, 2014-2017.
• 2-year Merit Scholarship, Seoul National University M.A. program, 2010, 2011.