I am anĀ Assistant Professor of Public Administration and TransformationĀ in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Twente (since 2023).
My research examines how governance systems create, channel, and constrain citizen voiceāparticularly under conditions of political, institutional, and technological constraint. Anchored inĀ participatory governance, my work combines long-standing expertise inĀ democratic innovationsĀ with an emerging focus on theĀ digital transformation of participation, including the role of data infrastructures and artificial intelligence in mediating public voice.
I completed my PhD at the Institute of Political Science at theĀ University of Zurich (2020). Following my doctorate, I worked forĀ three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich (2020ā2023), where I further developed my research on citizen participation, local governance, and democratic innovation in comparative perspective. My doctoral and research drew on extensive fieldwork in Wenling and Chengdu, examining how deliberative and participatory mechanisms operate within authoritarian systemsānot as symbolic add-ons, but as negotiated governance practices embedded in local institutions. This work laid the foundation for my broader interest in how participatory and digital governance are adapted and reinterpreted across political regimes during myĀ postdoctoralĀ period.Ā
Building on this foundation, I treatĀ China and other constrained or authoritarian contexts as analytical lenses rather than anomalies. I approach them as sites of governance experimentation where participation, legitimacy, and representation are continually reconfigured. This perspective allows my work to speak not only to China studies, but also to comparative debates on participation, stateāsociety relations, and democratic governance beyond liberal institutional settings.
In recent years, my research agenda has expanded to examine the intersection of participation andĀ digital governance. I study how digital platforms, big-data infrastructures, and AI-enabled systems increasingly mediate public input, deliberation, and responsiveness, raising new questions about inclusion, transparency, and political voice. Rather than treating technology as a neutral tool, my work investigates how digitalisation reshapes the architecture of participation, producing tensions between algorithmic control and new forms of civic agency.
Alongside my academic research, I am actively engaged in international practitionerāresearch networks working at the frontier of participatory governance. I am a member of theĀ ECPR Standing Group on Democratic Innovations, theĀ Global Citizensā Assembly Network (GloCAN), and am affiliated with theĀ International Centre for the Study of Participatory Democracy (ICSEP)Ā andĀ People Powered, global networks connecting scholars and practitioners advancing participatory and deliberative governance. Through ICSEP, I contributed to the internationalĀ Right to the CityĀ project funded by Polis (Brazil), leading the China case study on migrant childrenās access to education. I also serve asĀ Lead Researcher at the Social Equity and Participation Center in Chengdu, supporting research on urban governance, social inclusion, and citizen engagement in politically constrained contexts. In addition, I am part of the research and advisory network atĀ Pax Tecum Global, where I contribute China-related perspectives through expert discussions and public-facing engagements.
Across research, teaching, and public engagement, my work is driven by a central question:Ā how can meaningful participation be sustained in contexts marked by inequality, political constraint, and rapid technological change?Ā By bridging democratic innovation scholarship, digital governance research, and China-focused empirical inquiry, I aim to advance a globally grounded understanding of participationāone that recognises governance not as a fixed design, but as an evolving negotiation over voice, power, and belonging.
Organisations
I am interested in different aspects of participatory governance, including citizen participation, democratic innovations, digital governance, with an area focus on China.
Other contributions
Zhongyuan, W., Woo, S. Y., & KĆ¼bler, D. (2024). The Emerging Big Data Ecosystem and Digital Transformation of Poverty Governance in China. Social Sciences in China, 45(2), 152ā183.
Fischer, C., & Woo, S. Y. (2024). Behavioral approaches to social policy implementation. (Book chapter)
Woo, S. Y., Dong, L., & KĆ¼bler, D. (2023). Now a systemic rival? Inklings of complex representations of the EU in public survey data of Chinese urban residents. Comparative European Politics, 1-19.
Woo, S.Y. (2023) Deliberation with Chinese Characteristics: A Tale of Two Chinese Citiesā Participatory Budgeting Experiences. Taylor & Francis.
Dong, L., Woo, S. Y., & KĆ¼bler, D. (2022). The Chinese Publicās Perceptions of the European Union: Changes and Stability Revealed by 2010 and 2020 Surveys. Journal of Contemporary China, 1-19.
Wang, Z., & Woo, S. Y. (2021). Deliberative representation: how Chinese authorities enhance political representation by public deliberation. Journal of Chinese Governance, 1-33.
Woo, S. Y., & KĆ¼bler, D. (2020). Taking Stock of Democratic Innovations and Their Emergence in (unlikely) Authoritarian Contexts. Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 61(2), 335-355.
KĆ¼bler, D., Rochat, P. E., Woo, S. Y., & Van der Heiden, N. (2020). Strengthen governability rather than deepen democracy: why local governments introduce participatory governance. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 86(3), 409-426.
Research profiles
I will be teaching
- Organisational Theory (BA premasters)
- Comparative research methods (BA)
- Academic research (MA)
- Supervising the project for shaping digital Europe (under M7a: EU Governance and Policy: Shaping Europe)Ā
Courses academic year 2026/2027
Courses in the current academic year are added at the moment they are finalised in the Osiris system. Therefore it is possible that the list is not yet complete for the whole academic year.
Courses academic year 2025/2026
Courses academic year 2024/2025
In the press
ā¢ How democracy features in local Chinese politics, Swissinfo, November 23, 2022.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/how-democracy-features-in-local-chinese-politics/48077420
ā¢ With Ukraine War, Europeās Democratic Project Takes on New Urgency, New York Times, October 6, 2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/world/europe/democracy-europe-ukraine-war.html?searchResultPosition=1
ā¢ Interview: Citizen Participation in China. Mission Publiques., September 19, 2022
https://missionspubliques.org/it-might-seem-disconcerting-to-discuss-democratic-participation-in-authoritarian-china/?lang=en
ā¢ Demokrati, der virker, Weekendavisen (in Danish), February 6, 2022
ā¢ Podcast on āUnderstanding Chinaā on Pax Tecum (Diplomatic Consultancy) website, October 11, 2021
https://www.paxtecumglobal.org/the-global-podcast/tag/Chinese+politics
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