Topic: The Rise of Authoritarianism

Presenter: FPA Webinar Event with Q&A

Speaker: Dr. Ae sil Woo

Dr. Ae sil Woo studies legislative institutions and their effects on dissent in authoritarian states. In particular, she examines how authoritarian leaders address threats to their rule by experimenting with various institutional designs. Her work was published in a top general political science journal (Journal of Politics) and a newsletter of the largest association for political scientists (Annals of Comparative Democratization). As a new tenure-track faculty member at Gettysburg College, she is currently teaching students about institutional strategies that authoritarian leaders employ to thwart threats from elites and citizens. Her work contributes to the scholarly discussion by helping us see how institutional designs facilitate the resilience of authoritarian regimes but simultaneously generate multiple dilemmas that have to be addressed for leaders’ political survival. She has lived in multiple countries (South Korea, Jamaica, and the US), and her multicultural experience enables her to see from a broader perspective and employ cross-national analysis in her research.