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Minju Kim

Minju Kim

Contact Information:

mkim71@syr.edu

Minju Kim

Assistant Professor, Political Science Department


Research Affiliate, East Asia Program

Courses

  • 2024 Spring
    • PSC 124 International Relations
  • 2023 Fall
    • PSC 796 Formal Theories of Choice
    • PSC 400 Selected Topics - Strategic Choice and Politics
  • 2023 Spring
    • PSC 124 International Relations
  • 2022 Fall
    • PSC 796 Formal Theories of Choice
    • PSC 400 Selected Topics - Strategic Choice and Politics

Highest degree earned

Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2021

Bio

Minju Kim is an assistant professor of political science. She studies bureaucrats as individuals in domestic and international institutions.

Her book project, titled “The Careerist Bureaucrats: Job Security and Bureaucratic Responsiveness in US Foreign Affairs,” examines how institutional designs that govern the job security of bureaucrats shape the bureaucrats' responsiveness to the president in U.S. foreign affairs. Her work has been supported by the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University as well the Center for International Social Science Research and the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago, among others.

Before joining Syracuse University, Kim was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Commerce and Diplomacy in the University of California, San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2021.

Areas of Expertise

International political economy, bureaucratic politics, international trade, formal theory

Research Grant Awards and Projects

"The Careerist Bureaucrats: Job Security and Bureaucratic Responsiveness in US Foreign Affairs", Sponsored by American Political Science Association.

"The Careerist Bureaucrats: Job Security and Bureaucratic Responsiveness in US Foreign Affairs", Sponsored by APSA Centennial Center.

Selected Publications

Presentations and Events

Kim, M., Individuals in International Policy, The University of Texas at Austin, "Wartime Crack-Ups in International Cooperation: Bureaucratic Autonomy of the ILO and League of Nations in World War II" (2025)

Perry World House Seminar, The University of Pennsylvania, "Foreign Lobbying against Administrative Protectionism: Evidence from ITC Patent Investigations" (2024)

International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Meeting, "How Contract Design Nurtures Bureaucrats: Evidence from the International Trade Commission" (2024)

American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting, "Patent litigation for sale: Foreign firms offset Pro-US bias with agency lobbying" (2024)

Shanghai Jiao Tong University, "The Careerist Bureaucrats: Job Security and Bureaucratic Responsiveness in US Foreign Affairs" (2024)

American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting, "Wartime Crack-Ups in International Cooperation: Bureaucratic Autonomy of the ILO and League of Nations in World War II" (2024)

American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting , "Arbitrators as Advisors: Evidence from Changes in Investment Treaty Design" (2023)

The Political Economy of International Organization (PEIO) Annual Meeting, "Arbitrators as Advisors: Evidence from Changes in Investment Treaty Design" (2023)

Global Research in International Political Economy (GRIPE), "Bringing Home the Bacon: Politician Ambassadors and Home State Trade" (2023)

International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Convention , "Bringing Home the Bacon: Politician Ambassadors and Home State Trade" (2023)

International Political Economy Society (IPES) , "Foreign Lobbying against Administrative Protectionism: Evidence from ITC Patent Investigations" (2023)

Junior International Organization Scholars Workshop, "International Bureaucrats under the Spotlight: The Case of the WTO TRIPS Council " (2023)

International Organizations and Text-as-Data, The University of Pennsylvania, "Arbitrators as Advisors: Evidence from Changes in Investment Treaty Design" (2022)

Conference on Bureaucracy and International Relations, Brown University , "Bringing Home the Bacon: Politician Ambassadors and Home State Trade" (2022)

International Political Economy Society (IPES), "Bringing Home the Bacon: Politician Ambassadors and Home State Trade" (2022)

Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), "Bringing Home the Bacon: Politician Ambassadors and Home State Trade" (2022)

Workshop on International Policies (WIP), "Bringing Home the Bacon: Politician Ambassadors and Home State Trade" (2022)

Political Economy Lunch Group (PELG) Speaker Series , "How Bureaucrats Represent Economic Interests: Partisan Control over Trade Adjustment Assistance" (2022)

The University of Texas at Dallas, "How Bureaucrats Represent Economic Interests: Partisan Control over Trade Adjustment Assistance" (2021)

American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting , "Who Wants to Work at a Transparent International Organization? " (2021)

International Political Economy Society (IPES), "Who Wants to Work at a Transparent International Organization?" (2021)

The Political Economy of International Organization (PEIO) Seminar, "Who Wants to Work at a Transparent International Organization?" (2021)

Workshop on International Policies (WIP), "How Bureaucrats Represent Economic Interests: Partisan Control over Trade Adjustment Assistance" (August, 2020)

Workshop on International Policies (WIP), "Who Wants to Work at a Transparent International Organization?" (May, 2020)

American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting , "Electoral Rewards and Punishments for Trade Compensation" (2020)

IR and America's Rise: Institutions, Ideas, and Individuals , The University of Chicago, "How Bureaucrats Represent Economic Interests: Partisan Control over Trade Adjustment Assistance" (2020)

Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), "Electoral Rewards and Punishment for Trade Compensation" (2019)

American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting , "Electoral Rewards and Punishments for Trade Compensation" (2019)

Stigler Center PhD Workshop, "Electoral Rewards and Punishments for Trade Compensation" (2019)

International Political Economy Society (IPES), "How Bureaucrats Represent Economic Interests: Partisan Control over Trade Adjustment Assistance" (2019)

Honors and Accolades

Doctoral Research Innovation Fund, The University of Chicago (2020)

Summer Scholarship for ICPSR Training, The University of Chicago (2020)

Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph Field Research Award (2019)

Bradley Fellows Ph.D. Dissertation Award (2018)

Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models, National Science Foundation (2017)

East Asia Program
346 Eggers Hall