I am a political scientist researching the politics of authoritarian regimes and collective action in Russia and the post-Soviet region.
I am a post-doctoral researcher at the Authoritarian Politics Lab at UNC-Chapel Hill. I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan. I was previously a post-doctoral fellow at New York University's Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia and at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.
My work examines when and why autocratic regimes promise concessions to protestors, how these promises affect mobilization and their impact on policies.
In my book project, I emphasize that a concession entails a process of potential policy change that begins with a promise of future action. Because these promises are not inherently credible, concessions are vulnerable to reneging, or the deliberate failure to implement concessions. I argue that while concessions can be an avenue to address problems about which the government lacked information, in many cases, they are used to undermine mobilization in the short-term, even if later reneging allows the grievance to endure. The book uses an original database on protest campaigns against the Moscow City government about policy-related grievances and is also informed by interviews with activists I conducted during fieldwork in Moscow. My related dissertation won the Juan Linz Prize for Best Dissertation in the Comparative Study of Democracy.
My other research interests in comparative politics include authoritarian institutions, repression, authoritarian responsiveness, urban politics and post-Soviet politics.
I also hold an MA in Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Regional Studies and a BA in Slavic Studies, both from Columbia University. My research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation/Harriman Institute, among others.