Hi! I am Ayoung Chun, a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Program on American Institutional Renewal (PAIR) at Purdue University. I received my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2025.

My research examines how campaign finance shapes political representation and institutional power in American politics. My book project studies how legislators’ earliest donors influence lawmaking behavior in the U.S. Congress, particularly through committee activity, legislative speech, and policy advocacy. My broader research agenda explores the relationship between money and political institutions, including procedural power in state legislatures, bipartisan coalition building, and Supreme Court nominations.

My research has been published in Legislative Studies Quarterly. My work has received the Best Graduate Student Paper Award from APSA’s State Politics and Policy Section (2026) and the Virginia Gray Graduate Student Research Award from APSA’s Political Organizations and Parties Section (2024). My research has also been supported by the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), the Pauley Foundation, and the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS).

I am on the 2026–2027 academic job market. Here is my job market paper.

I can teach courses in American politics, political institutions, money in politics, quantitative methods, and critical data theory. At UCLA, I served as an instructor or teaching assistant across 16 undergraduate and graduate courses.

My name is pronounced AH (sound you make at the dentist) – young (as opposed to old).