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Hye Young
You

Political Science - United States

Contact details

Email.
hyou@nyu.edu
Personal Website.
https://hyeyoungyou.com

Research topics

PROJECT

Foreign Lobbying in the United States.

Despite a long history of concern about foreign powers trying to influence American public opinion and policy, little is known about the scope, magnitude, and influence of foreign lobbying. Explosive news stories detailing Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election have brought foreign lobbying entities to the center of public attention. Foreign governments and firms are one of the most active interest groups that lobby policymakers in the US but the magnitude of their activities and their role in shaping American foreign policy is poorly understood. Which foreign governments and business interests lobby? What is the role of foreign lobbying in American democracy? Does allowing foreign lobbying enhance or decrease the capacity of policymaking of US government officials?

In this book, I present an argument that foreign lobbying has played a critical role in facilitating communications between the US government and foreign governments, businesses, and other foreign political actors. I argue that the decentralized structure of the US government makes lobbying by foreign interests inevitable and foreign lobbying substitutes the traditional channels of communications of diplomacy.

In doing so, I construct the most comprehensive dataset that provides a detailed understanding of lobbying activities by foreign entities that target legislative and executive branches of US government, as well as the media and other institutions over a 70-year period since 1942. The 70-year period of the FARA data that I collected coincides with many important world events, including the Cold War, the rise of Japan as an economic power, the collapse of the Soviet Union, 9/11, and the rise of China. During the period, many foreign countries experienced changes in their diplomatic relationships with the US. Tracking lobbying activities by foreign entities over time provide an invaluable description of how and when foreign actors have tried to influence the US policymaking process.

Activities / Resume

BIOGRAPHY

Hye Young You is an Assistant Professor in the Wilf Family Department of Politics at New York University. Her primary research interest focuses on how organized interests and money influence democratic representation in the US, at both the national and local levels. In particular, her research explores the mechanism behind the lobbying process and sheds light on organized interest groups that play crucial roles in the political process but have been understudied such as local governments and foreign interests. She is also interested in public finance and the quality of government services at municipal governments in the US.

Professor You is the recipient of Deil S. Wright Award for the Best Paper in Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations by the American Political Science Association in 2016. Professor You’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and other journals. She received her PhD in political economy and government from Harvard Univeristy in 2014.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • "Exit Strategy: Career Concerns and Revolving Doors in Congress'', 2020 (with Michael E. Shepherd) , American Political Science Review, 114(1): 270-284.
  • "Active Firms and Active Shareholders: Corporate Political Activity and Shareholder Proposals'' , 2020 (with Geeyoung Min), Journal of Legal Studies 48(1): 81-116.
  • "Presence and Influence in Lobbying: Evidence from Dodd-Frank Rulemaking'', 2019 (with Pamela Ban), Business and Politics, 21(2): 267-295.
  •  "Legislators as Lobbyists'' (with Melinda N. Ritchie), Legislative Studies Quarterly, 44(1): 65-95.
  • "Cities as Lobbyists'', 2017 (with Rebecca Goldstein), American Journal of Political Science 61(4): 864-876.
  • "Ex Post Lobbying,'' 2017, Journal of Politics, 79(4): 1162-1176.