Resume

• 2008

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD

  Political Science and Government

  University of Florida

  Master of Arts - MA

  Political Science and Government

  University of Florida

• 2003

  Russian

  English

  Bachelor of Arts

  Social and Political Sciences

  Sabancı Üniversitesi / Sabanci University

• International Development

  Statistics

  Data Analysis

  Qualitative Research

  Policy Analysis

  SPSS

  Grant Writing

  Research

  Analysis

  Editing

  International Relations

  Public Policy

  Program Evaluation

  Economics

  Politics

  Stata

  Political Science

  Academic Writing

  Higher Education

  Foreign Policy

  Civil Society and Regime Type in European Post-Communist Countries: The Perspective Two Decades after 1989-1991

  This essay addresses two controversies on the relationship between civil society and democratization in post-communist countries. It contradicts a tendency to dismiss civil society as a myth

  ideology

  or framing device for social movements and instead demonstrates that civil society is a real material force that has played a critical role in democratic breakthroughs in the region. It also criticizes the tendency to characterize post-communist civil society as either strong or weak in a blanket fashion. Instead

  it shows that looking at differences in the strength of civil society at moments of transition is a good\nindicator of how durable that transition will be. This is illustrated with empirical work on both the breakthrough years of 1989-1991 and the period of the color revolutions in the 2000s.

  Civil Society and Regime Type in European Post-Communist Countries: The Perspective Two Decades after 1989-1991

  Since the end of the Cold War

  political scientists have radically reexamined the role that elections play in authoritarian contexts. Some argue elections are congruent with authoritarianism and actually help to stabilize non-democratic forms of rule. Others challenge this claim by arguing that elections can function as a mechanism for democratization. We test whether elections have functioned as a mechanism of change or of neo-authoritarian stability in the postcommunist world. We generally find that elections neither promote democracy nor strengthen authoritarianism. However

  we do find that in energy-rich states elections promote authoritarianism

  though of a somewhat more benign sort. We also find that the mechanisms of electoral participation and competitiveness thought to promote democracy function differently in the postcommunist context and explore this in greater detail through a paired case study of electoral mobilization in Slovakia and Belarus.

  “Are Elections Mechanisms of Authoritarian Stability or Democratization? Evidence from Postcommunist Eurasia

  Ruchan

  Kaya

  Texas A&M University System

  University of Florida

  Austin College

  Political Science Instructor

  Gainesville

  Florida Area

  University of Florida

  Bryan/College Station

  Texas Area

  Visiting Assistant Professor

  Texas A&M University System

  Sherman

  Texas

  Assistant Professor

  Austin College

  Ph.D Fellow

  Gainesville

  Florida Area

  University of Florida