I conduct research on politics and international relations of China; international affairs in the Asia-Pacific; and authoritarianism with regional focus on countries in East Asia (China and the Korean peninsula).  My methodological interests include survey analysis and computational text analysis. 

My current research focuses on NGO policy in China, intellectualization of propaganda in autocracies, and the role of elite management in leadership succession.

Prior to joining UiB I was a research fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and a pre-doctoral fellow at Fudan University. I hold MA and PhD in Political Science from Stanford University. https://esthersong.org 

MA: Politics and Governance of Global Challenges

• Academic Writing (Fall 2025)
• China in Global Politics (Spring 2024, Spring 2025)
• Quantitative Methods (Spring 2025, with Fabian Hattke)

Please see my google scholar page for a full list of publications.

Peer-reviewed articles (selected)

Song, Esther E., Jacob Reidhead, and Jeongsue Park. 2025. Introducing Career Transition Data on Elites in North Korea. Journal of East Asian Studies. doi:10.1017/jea.2025.2

Song, E. E., & Kim, S. E. 2024. China’s dual signalling in maritime disputes. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2024.2394179

Song, E. E. 2023. Air Pollution Coverage, Anti-Chinese Sentiment, and Attitudes towards Foreign Policy in South Korea. Journal of Chinese Political Science. DOI:10.1007/s11366-023-09849-z

Song, E. E. 2022. How Outsourcing Social Services to NGOs Bolsters Political Trust in China: Evidence from Shanghai. Chinese Political Science Review. 1-27. DOI:10.1007/s41111-021-00207-z

Media

South Koreans have the world's most negative views of China. Why?. The Diplomat, December 2022 (with Richard Turcsanyi).