As a political scientist studying law and courts in a comparative perspective, I am interested in the interaction between judicial institutions and politico-economic elements. On the one hand, my research explores political and economic conditions under which countries promote independent courts and the rule of law, particularly in the context of non-democracies and emerging democracies. On the other hand, I also analyze the impact of effective law and courts on better governance, such as political accountability and economic development. I investigate these themes through a mix of cross-national quantitative analysis and qualitative case studies with a regional focus on East and Southeast Asia.

Publications

• 조무형. 2022. “정치경쟁과 정당체제 제도화가 사법부의 독립성에 미치는 영향: 보험이론의 재검토 (The Interactive Effect of Political Competition and Party System Institutionalization on Judicial Independence).” 21세기정치학회보. 32.3: 85-114. Published version
• 조무형. 2022. “행정입법 통제 국회법 개정안의 내용 및 쟁점.” 의정연구. 28.2: 95-102. Published version
• Cho, Moohyung, and Tim Büthe. 2021. “From Rule-Taker to Rule-Promoting Regulatory State: South Korea in the Nearly-Global Competition Regime.” Regulation & Governance. 15.3: 513-543. Published version.
• Cho, Moohyung, Jason Douglas Todd, and Georg Vanberg. 2019. “Politics, Polarization, and the U.S. Supreme Court.” in The U.S. Supreme Court and Contemporary Constitutional Law: The Obama Era and Its Legacy. Anna-Bettina Kaiser, Niels Petersen, and Johannes Saurer (eds.) New York: Routledge: 41-65. Published version. Latest version.
• Büthe, Tim, and Moohyung Cho. 2017. “Power and Institutionalized International Regulatory Cooperation: A Multi-Method Analysis of Antitrust Agreements.” European Foreign Affairs Review 22.2: 115-136. Published version. Latest version.
• Cho, Moohyung. 2010. “David versus Goliath: Ralph Nader’s Struggle against Electoral System in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election.” Migukak (American Studies) 33.1: 233-257. [in Korean]
• Cho, Moohyung. 2008. “The Establishment and Decline of APACL (Asian People’s Anti-Communist League): Conceptualizing R.O.K.-U.S. Conflict based on Role Theory.” Segyejeongchi (Journal of World Politics) 29.2: 187-238. [in Korean]

Working Papers

• “The Differential Effects of Political Threats on Judicial Independence in Autocracies” (with Yunus Emre Orhan)
• “Theorizing and Testing the Maintenance of Judicial Independence in Autocracies.”
• “Party System Institutionalization, Electoral Competition, and Judicial Independence in Developing Democracies: Evidence from South Korea and the Philippines.”