EDUCATION
Ph.D. Political Science, University of California, San Diego, 2015
M.A. Political Science, University of California, San Diego, 2010
M.A. Public Policy, Georgetown University, 2007
B.A. Public Administration, Korea University, 2005
PUBLICATIONS
Book
Fernando Casal Bertoa and Don S. Lee. In Progress. Party System Closure in Asia (tentative). Under Contract at Cambridge University Press
Don S. Lee. 2024. The President’s Dilemma in Asia. Oxford University Press
Peer-reviewed articles
36. Don S. Lee. Accepted. Legislative Hearings and Presidential Cabinet Management. Governance https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.70032
35. Don S. Lee and Fernando Casal Bertoa. Accepted. Classifying Asian Party Systems: Sartori’s Typology in Comparative Perspective. Italian Political Science Review
34. Jisook Park and Don S. Lee. 2025. Political Dynamics of Prosecution Reform and the Adjustment of Investigative Powers Between the Prosecutor and the Police (검찰개혁과 검･경 수사권 조정의 정치적 역학: 거부권 이론을 중심으로). Korean Public Administration Review 59 (2): 133~172
33. Sunggeun Kim, Don S. Lee, and Soonae Park. Forthcoming. The Perceived Identity of Policy Participants: The Agenda-Building Process of Universal Basic Income in South Korea. Public Policy and Administration https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767241312361
32. Don S. Lee, Kee Hoon Chung, and Inbok Rhee. Forthcoming. Who Becomes A Civil Servant? Evidence from A Decade of Youth Panel Analysis. Public Management Review https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2024.2327616
31. Don S. Lee, Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling, and Soonae Park. 2025. Learning Effects of Anti-Corruption Reform in Public Organisations: Explanations from Social Psychological Theory. Public Management Review 27 (7): 1764-1785
30. Don S. Lee, Kee Hoon Chung, and Soonae Park. 2025. How Do Policy Environments Shape Public Service Motivation during the National Disaster? Evidence from Large-Scale Survey Experiments. Journal of Public Policy 45 (1): 1-22
29. Don S. Lee and Soonae Park. 2025. Do Motivated Public Servants Behave More Ethically? Review of Public Personnel Administration 45 (1): 29-55
28. Don S. Lee, Fernando Casal Bertoa, and Katharine Adeney. 2024. GulliMair Travels East: Drivers of Party System Institutionalization in Asia in Comparative Perspective. Political Research Exchange 6 (1): 1-26
27. John S. Kuk, Don S. Lee, and Inbok Rhee. 2024. Does Exposure to Election Fraud Research Undermine Confidence in Elections? Public Opinion Quarterly 88 (SI): 656–680
26. Don S. Lee. 2024. Bureaucratic Professionalization and Cabinet Management: How Civil Servants in Presidential Democracies Are Treated Differently. Public Administration Review 84 (6): 1079-1094
25. Jae Hoon Oak and Don S. Lee. 2024. How Adolescents’ School Commuting through Walking and Biking Affects Their Physical and Mental Health: An Instrumental Variable Approach (청소년의 비동력 통학이 비만도 및 정신적 스트레스에 미치는 영향 분석: 내생성을 고려한 도구변수 이용을 중심으로). Survey Research (조사연구) 25 (3): 121-150 (in Korean)
24. Don S. Lee and Soonae Park. 2024. Bureaucratic Responsiveness under Dynamic Political Settings: Experimental Evidence from Local Governments. Legislative Studies Quarterly 49 (2): 323-352
23. Don S. Lee. 2024. Public Assessments of Ministerial Leadership in Times of National Crisis: The Case of the Pandemic Crisis. Public Administration 102 (1): 95-113.
22. Don S. Lee, Sangyub Ryu, and Soonae Park. 2023. Determinants of Local Civil Servants’ Perceptions of Intergovernmental Tensions: Experimental Evidence from Korea. Public Performance & Management Review 46 (5): 1113-1144
21. Don S. Lee, Paul Schuler, and Soonae Park. 2023. Circling the Wagons: How Perceived Injustice Increases Female Bureaucrats’ Support for Female Political Leaders. Journal of East Asian Studies 23 (2): 333-345
20. Don S. Lee, Annemarie S. Walter, and Soonae Park. 2023. Anti-Corruption Policy and Whistle-Blowing Intentions: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Meritocratic Civil Service Systems. Administration & Society 55 (6): 1194–1217
19. Don S. Lee and Zsuzsanna B. Magyar. 2023. Separation of Powers, Opposition Strength, and Chief Executives’ Strategy. Governance 36 (2): 479-497
18. Yang Hun Kim and Don S. Lee. 2023. An Analysis of the Impact of Bill Initiators’ Position in Subcommittees on the Passage of Bills: From the Perspective of the Distributive Benefits Theory (대표발의자의 법률안심사소위원회 직책이 법률안 가결에 미치는 영향 분석: 위원회 이론 중 이익분배 이론의 관점에서). Korean Political Science Review (한국정치학회보) 57 (1): 119-142 (in Korean)
17. Don S. Lee and Fernando Casal Bertoa. 2022. On the Causes of Electoral Volatility in Asia since 1948. Party Politics 28 (6): 1187–1199
16. Soonae Park and Don S. Lee. 2022. Political Crisis in Central Government and Bureaucrats’ Responses in Provincial Government: The Impact of Governors’ Characteristics. Political Research Quarterly 75 (4): 1186–1200
15. Don S. Lee and Charles T. McClean. 2022. Breaking the Cabinet’s Glass Ceiling: The Gendered Effect of Political Experience in Presidential Democracies. Comparative Political Studies 55 (6): 992-1020
14. Don S. Lee. 2022. Agency Heads’ Public Profiles and Bureaucratic Performance. The American Review of Public Administration 52 (6): 409–422
13. Don S. Lee and Soonae Park. 2021. Bureaucratic Responsiveness in Times of Political Crisis: The Case of Presidential Impeachment. Public Administration 99 (3): 563-580
12. Don S. Lee and Soonae Park. 2021. Civil Servants' Perceptions of Agency Heads' Leadership Styles: The Role of Gender in Public Sector Organizations. Public Management Review 23 (8): 1160-1183
11. Soonae Park, Don S. Lee, and Jieun Son. 2021. Regulatory Reform in the Era of New Technological Development: The Role of Organizational Factors in the Public Sector. Regulation & Governance 15 (3): 894-908
10. Don S. Lee and Soonae Park. 2021. What Motivates Street-level Bureaucrats to Implement the Reforms of Elected Politicians? Policy & Politics 49 (1): 141-160
9. Don S. Lee and Soonae Park. 2020. Ministerial Leadership and Endorsement of Bureaucrats: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Presidential Governments. Public Administration Review 80 (3): 426–441
8. Don S. Lee and Paul Schuler. 2020. Testing the “China Model” of Meritocratic Promotions: Do Democracies Reward Less Competent Ministers than Autocracies? Comparative Political Studies 53 (3-4): 531–566
7. Don S. Lee. 2020. Executive Control of Bureaucracy and Presidential Cabinet Appointments in East Asian Democracies. Regulation & Governance 14 (1): 82-101
6. Don S. Lee and Jong-Sung You. 2019. Electoral Reform in South Korea? Application of a Mixed-Member Proportional System and Its Implications (선거제도 개혁에 대한 이론적, 경험적 고찰과 한국적 적용: 연동형 비례제를 중심으로). Journal of Korean Social Trend and Perspective (동향과 전망) 105 (2): 46-91 (in Korean)
5. Don S. Lee. 2018. Executive Capacity to Control Legislatures and Presidential Choice of Cabinet Ministers in East Asian Democracies. Governance 31 (4): 777-795
4. Don S. Lee. 2018. Portfolio Allocation as the President's Calculations: Loyalty, Copartisanship, and Political Context in South Korea. Journal of East Asian Studies 18 (3): 345-365
3. Don S. Lee and Soonae Park. 2018. Democratization and Women's Representation in Presidential Cabinets: Evidence from East and Southeast Asia. Asian Journal of Political Science 26 (2): 161-180
2. Jonathan Sullivan and Don S. Lee. 2018. Soft Power Runs into Popular Geopolitics: Western Media Frames Democratic Taiwan. International Journal of Taiwan Studies 1 (2): 273-300
1. Don S. Lee and Jong-Sung You. 2017. Semi-Presidentialism: Typology, Outcomes, and Application to Korea (이원정부제의 이론적, 경험적 고찰과 한국적 적용을 위한 사례 예시). Journal of Korean Social Trend and Perspective (동향과 전망) 100 (3): 118-151 (in Korean)
Book chapters
5. Don S. Lee and Fernando Casal Bertoa. 2025. Parties and Party Systems. In Yuko Kasuya and Netina Tan eds., The Routledge Handbook of Autocratization in Southeast Asia. Routledge
4. Don S. Lee. 2024. Executive-Legislative Relations in East and Southeast Asia: Institutional Separation of Powers and Its Consequences. In David S. Law et al. eds., The Oxford Handbook of Constitutional Law in Asia. Oxford University Press
3. Don S. Lee and Soonae Park. 2023. What motivates street-level bureaucrats to implement the reforms of elected politicians? In Benjamin Ewert et al. eds., Beyond Nudge: Advancing the State-of-the-Art of Behavioural Public Policy and Administration. Bristol University Press
2. Jonathan Sullivan and Don S. Lee. 2021. Situating Tsai Ing-wen’s first term: Three decades of presidential discourse in Taiwan. In Gunter Schubert and Chun-Yi Lee eds., Taiwan during the first Administration of Tsai Ing-wen: Navigating in Stormy Waters. Routledge
1. Don S. Lee and Jong-Sung You. 2018. Application of a Premier-Presidential Type of Semi-Presidentialism to South Korea (의회주의적 이원정부제의 적용). In Jai Chang Park ed., Constitutional Amendment in Korea. Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Knowledge Press, 243-274 (in Korean)
On media
5. Flawed research into election fraud can undermine democracy and intensify polarization, The Conversation, July 30, 2024. Flawed research into election fraud can undermine democracy and intensify polarization (theconversation.com)
4. Public Assessments of Ministerial Leadership in National Disaster Situations: The Case of the Pandemic Crisis (국가 재난 상황에서 장관리더십에 대한 대중의 평가: 팬데믹 위기 사례), The National Library of Congress (Sejong) Webzine, May 2023 (Vol. 84, pp. 52-57). https://sejong.nl.go.kr/webzine/ecatalog5.jsp?Dir=97 (in Korean)
3. South Korea’s new leader says there’s no gender inequality problem: That will hurt women in politics there, our research finds, The Washington Post's Monkey Cage, April 26, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/26/south-korea-election-gender-ministry-feminism-backlash/
2. The future of democracy and rise of authoritarianism in Asia, East Asia Forum, December 10, 2021. https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/12/10/the-future-of-democracy-and-rise-of-authoritarianism-in-asia/
1. On electoral reform in South Korea: Application of a MixedᐨMember Proportional System (의원 수 안 늘리고도 연동형 비례제 가능하다), Pressian.com, December 23, 2018. http://m.pressian.com/m/pages/articles/222329?no=222329 (in Korean)
Under Review
Online Accessibility of Local Public Enterprise Financial Statements in Indonesia (R&R)
Ministers as Policy Coordinators and Assessments of Presidential Office (R&R)
On the Perils of Presidentialism? Direct Presidential Elections and the Institutionalization of Asian Party Systems (1948-2020) (R&R)
Do Marginalized Voters Prefer More Proportional Rules? (R&R)
Representation and Discrimination: Experimental Evidence about Bureaucratic Deployment and Promotion
Representative Bureaucracy in Public Education
Private Gains From Public Loss?: Managing Conflict of Interests in Public Organizations
Unraveling the Dynamics Surrounding Ministers and Deputy Ministers: A BERTopic Analysis of South Korean Government Press Releases
Policy Entrepreneurship: Experimental Evidence from Local Governments
Local Government Elections and Chief Executives’ Accountability
Informal Networks and Promotion in Meritocratic Bureaucracies
Working Papers (available upon request)
Party Institutionalization and Ministers' Cabinet Careers
Gaining Social Value through Youth Activities
Who Supports Whom in Government Response Policies? Experimental Evidence from Citizen and Civil Servant Surveys
Are There Gendered Patterns in Ministerial Turnover? The Case of Asian Presidential Democracies
Legal Corruption in the Government: The Role of Civil Servants’ Political Ideology
Do Civil Servants Understand Citizens’ Preferences and Prospects When Implementing Policies?
Party (System) Institutionalization and the Quality of Democracy in Asia
Manuscripts in Progress
Policy Environments in Local Government: A Conjoint Analysis of Intergovernmental Relational Attributes and Local Employees’ Preferences
We Want to Do This Project: An Analysis of Local Government Officials' Policy Preferences Through Conjoint Experiments
How Does Ethics Reform in Government Affect Moral Reasoning and Perceived Discretion in Patronage Organizations?
Leadership Capacity and Policy Entrepreneurship in Local Governments
Understanding Presidential Lame-duck: A Machine Learning Approach
Leadership Dynamics in Bureaucracy: A Conjoint Analysis of Superior Attributes and Subordinate Preferences