Doctoral Student
sldv@umich.edu
Political Science
Education/Degree:
M.A., Russian, Eastern European and Eurasia Regional Studies, Columbia University, 2013
B.A., Slavic Studies (summa cum laude), Columbia University, 2009
About
My research in comparative politics focuses on the dynamics of authoritarian regimes in the former Soviet Union. I am interested in the relationship between mass mobilization, state repression, institutional reform and regime stability. My dissertation considers concessions as a strategy of protest demobilization. I propose that autocrats can strategically manipulate the concessions process to mitigate the impact of promised reforms. Methodologically, this project combines cross-national time-series analysis of an original dataset on protests and concessions in the autocratic former USSR, a formal model, and case studies.
I was a WCED Graduate Fellow from 2014-15, and I hold an MA in Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Regional Studies and a BA in Slavic Studies from Columbia University.
Fields of Study:
- Comparative Politics
- Authoritarian Politics
- Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia
- Methodology
