The Russian Opposition in the Eyes of Russians in Russia and Abroad: Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Margarita Zavadskaya and Mikhail Turchenko examine Khodorkovsky's role in the Russian opposition

Russian Opposition in the Eyes of Russians in Russia and Abroad: The Case of Anti-Corruption Foundation

Margarita Zavadskaya and Mikhail Turchenko explain how Russians view the ACF’s activities and key figures

Anti-war wave of emigration: should I stay or should I go?

Margarita Zavadskaya on the new wave of emigration out of Russia

On the harmfulness of Russian polls

Margarita Zavadskaya on how to interpret opinion polls on support for the war in Ukraine

Authoritarianism in Russia-2022: In search of new legitimacy

Margarita Zavadskaya discusses whether a return of the «Teflon rating» is possible, as was the case after the Crimea

Political support and the pandemic in Russia: a year and a half later

Margarita Zavadskaya on how Russian political attitudes have changed during the pandemic

Who is better at fixing roads?

Margarita Zavadskaya on local governance models and the quality of public goods

Russia’s GenZ: Progressive or Reactionary?

Margarita Zavadskaya uncovers the political tendencies of young people in Russia

How did Russian society react to Covid-19?

Margarita Zavadskaya discovers how Russian society is particularly rife with conspiracy theories about Covid-19

Six myths about elections and protests in autocracies

Margarita Zavadskaya on why it’s high time we forgot the rhetoric of “colour revolutions”

COVID-19 and Russians’ political sentiments

Margarita Zavadskaya has 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

Margarita Zavadskaya asks 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.