Jeongho Choi

Hi, I am a postdoctoral researcher in the field of Computational Social Science at the Institute of Political Science, Leibniz University Hannover in Germany.

My research examines how political representation and political rhetoric—from political leaders and the mass media—influence public support for populism, perceptions of democracy, and democratic backsliding. I focus on three interrelated areas: how substantive policy representation affects populist support across regional contexts; how citizens’ conceptions of democracy shape their support for populism and the resilience of democratic systems; and how elite and media rhetoric strategically evolves to shape public opinion.

Methodologically, I use a range of quantitative approaches, including multilevel modeling, computational text analysis, and machine learning. My research has been published in several journals, including Democratization, International Migration Review, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, and Social Science Quarterly.

In addition to my research, I serve on the Steering Committee of the Young Scholars Initiative on Populism (OPUS), a division within the international research network in populism studies, Team Populism.

I hold a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Iowa in 2025, as well as an M.A. (awarded for Excellent Master’s Thesis) and a B.A. (Graduated with High Distinction) in Political Science from Kyung Hee University, South Korea.

My CV can be found here.