Wenyan Deng

Welcome! I am a Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College. I received my Ph.D. in Political Science from MIT in 2026. My research lies at the intersection of comparative and international political economy, with a regional specialization in China and a focus on authoritarian political institutions.

My research examines how political institutions shape interest representation, policy responsiveness, and economic and social outcomes. My current projects study how firms secure policy advantages in authoritarian regimes, how regime type shapes governments’ responsiveness to consumer interests, and how different forms of political violence affect interpersonal trust.

Methodologically, my work combines causal inference, large-scale data construction, computational text analysis, archival research, and qualitative interviews. My coauthored paper, "Latinization of Organized Labor and Democratic Immigration Positions", received the Best Paper Award from the Political Organizations and Parties Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA).