Six myths about elections and protests in autocracies
Margarita Zavadskaya on why it’s high time we forgot the rhetoric of “colour revolutions”
Author: Margarita Zavadskaya
COVID-19 and Russians’ political sentiments
Margarita Zavadskaya and Boris Sokolov have compiled survey data on how the coronavirus pandemic is changing Russian society. The results show little sign of any ‘rally round the flag’ effect.
It’s hard to be a mayor
Margarita Zavadskaya explains why Russia’s municipalities are so poorly governed, and why a handful of areas are exceptions to that rule
Lies as a pillar of Russian power
Part five in the “Russian Media: Moscow and Beyond Calling” series on media, propaganda, and authoritarianism in Russia
Academic Unfreedom
Margarita Zavadskaya on conducting political research in authoritarian systems
Here’s What Russians Really Think About Gender (In)equality
Ekaterina Borozdina and Margarita Zavadskaya ask whether, and how, views on gender relations are changing in Russia today
Navalny’s Fellow Travellers
Margarita Zavadskaya reflects on whether opposition figure Alexei Navalny is carving out a new niche on Russia’s political left, and what he might stand to win or lose from a leftward pivot
Russia’s Youth are Not So Special After All
It’s become fashionable to claim that young people are losing their taste for democracy. But, at least in Russia, the statistics prove otherwise: the youth are just as sceptical and just as enthusiastic as their elders
The New Norms of Protest Politics in Russia
Protests are occuring in Russia with greater frequency. In general, they have become more directly political and involve a widening geographic and demographic range. But the state is responding in ever more sophisticated ways to limit their impact.