Department of Political Science

Soonhwan Kwon is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at Indiana University Bloomington. His research lies at the intersection of comparative politics, political economy, and public policy, with a primary focus on the housing politics. His dissertation examines how housing policies shape citizens’ expectations about economic security, asset accumulation, and upward mobility, and how these expectations influence political attitudes and policy preferences. More broadly, his work approaches housing policy as an institution that structures relationships among households, markets, and the state. His dissertation adopts a comparative perspective, examining South Korea alongside cases in Europe and the United States to understand how different housing and welfare systems shape political attitudes and economic expectations. Building on this work, his broader research agenda places particular emphasis on South Korea and East Asia while continuing to use cross-national comparison to study the development and political consequences of housing institutions. He is particularly interested in how housing policy interacts with economic development, welfare provision, household asset formation, and patterns of homeownership. His broader research interests include welfare development, household wealth, labor markets, and the political consequences of major economic and social policies. Soonhwan was raised in Siheung, South Korea. He received his B.A. in International Studies from Kyung Hee University and his M.A. in Political Science from Yonsei University.