About

Hi There!

I’m David (Yen-Chieh) Liao. I am a researcher at NexSys and a postdoc in the Text and Policy Research Group, led by Dr. Stefan Müller, based in the School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin. Additionally, I’m a member of the Connected_Politics Lab.

I obtained my PhD in January 2023 from the Department of Government at the University of Essex. During my completion year between 2021 and 2022, I worked as a predoctoral fellow for the Chair of Comparative Politics, Prof. Thomas Saalfeld, on the research project titled Legislators between Accountability and Collective Agency at the University of Bamberg in Germany. Before coming to UCD, I had a short postdoc experience at Global Studies in Aarhus University, where I helped analyze social media data related to social movement activities and their network relationships.

My main research interests include legislative studies, party competition, representative behavior, and electoral systems. I have a specific interest in the measurement of ideological preferences through methods such as legislative voting, expert surveys, and the analysis of parliamentary speeches. My recent research agenda focuses on quantitative text analysis and computational methods to gain a deeper understanding of how political elites position themselves through their political narratives. In addition, I explore how these narratives influence political behaviors and shape the attitudes and expectations of the masses concerning the future.