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Maria Popova

Academic title(s): 

Associate Professor, Jean Monnet Chair

Maria Popova
Contact Information
Address: 

855 Sherbrooke St. W.
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 2T7

Phone: 
514-398-4693
Office: 
Ferrier 462
Degree(s): 

BA, Dartmouth

MA, PhD, Harvard

Curriculum vitae: 
PDF icon popova_cv_2021.pdf
Link(s): 
Jean Monnet Chair website
Research areas: 
Comparative Government and Politics
Specialization: 

Comparative politics, European politics, post-Communist transformation, courts and politics

Areas of interest: 
  • European Politics: rule of law, populism, corruption, anti-establishment parties, EU accession, protest.
  • Comparative Judicial Politics: judicial independence, global expansion of judicial power, post-communist judicial reforms, prosecution of political corruption.
  • Post-Soviet politics: freedom of speech and elections, authoritarian consolidation, weaponization of law.
Professional activities: 
  • Scientific Co-Director, Jean Monnet Centre Montreal
  • PONARS Eurasia Executive Committee Member
  • Member, Board of Directors, Association for Slavic, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies
Current research: 
  • The Russo-Ukrainian War: why did Russia launch a full-scale invasion? Why did Ukraine put up fierce resistance?
  • Prosecution of political corruption in the Balkans and East Central Europe
  • Political development in Ukraine, judicial and anti-corruption reforms, EU accession reforms
Selected publications: 

Book

Politicized Justice in Emerging Democracies: A Study of Courts in Russia and Ukraine. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2012.

Winner, 2012-2013 American Association for Ukrainian Studies prize for best book in the fields of Ukrainian history, politics, language, literature, and culture. Featured in a Critical Dialogue in Perspectives on Politics and reviewed in 11 other journals in comparative politics, area studies, law, and anthropology.

Journal Articles

  1. “My Grandfather Said “Screw the Communists, But We All Have to Vote for Them",” (2022) Journal of Narrative Politics 8 (2).
  2. “Will the Real Conspiracy Please Stand Up: Sources of Post-Communist Democratic Failure,” (2022) Perspectives on Politics, 20 (1): 222 - 236. With Nikolay Marinov
  3. "Can a Leopard Change its Spots? Strategic Behavior vs. Professional Role Conception During Ukraine's 2014 Court Chair Elections" (2020) Law & Policy, Vol. 42, Iss. 4, pp. 365-381.
  4. "No Revolution of Dignity for Ukraine’s Judges: Judicial Reform After Maidan” (2020) Demokratizatsiya 28 (1): 113-142. With Daniel Beers
  5. “Prosecuting High-Level Corruption in Eastern Europe.” (2018) Communist and Post-Communist Studies 51( 3): 231-244. With Vincent Post.
  6. "Putin-Style “Rule of Law” & the Prospects for Change." Daedalus, Vol. 146, No. 2 (2017), pp. 64-75
  7. “Fear and Loathing on the Post-Communist Street: Why Bulgaria's DANSwithme Protest Fizzled out, but Ukraine's Euromaidan Escalated,” Critique and Humanism, Vol. 46, No. 2 (2016), pp. 109-127. A Bulgarian version: „Страх и омраза на посткомунитическите улици: защо българския протест ДАНС затихва, а украинският Евромайдан ескалира?,“ кн. 45, бр. 1/2016, стр. 107-129.
  8. “Die Entwicklung der ukrainischen Justiz seit dem Euromaidan,” Transit: Europaische Revue, Vol. 48 (Winter 2015/Fruhling 2016), pp. 136-156.
  9. “Why the Orange Revolution Was Short and Peaceful and Euromaidan Long and Violent” Problems of Post-Communism, Vol. 61 (November-December 2014), No. 6, pp. 64-70.
  10. “Why Doesn’t the Bulgarian Judiciary Prosecute Corruption?” Problems of PostCommunism, Vol. 59, No. 5 (September-October, 2012), pp. 35-49.
  11. “Political Competition as an Obstacle to Judicial Independence: Evidence from Russia and Ukraine”, Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 43, Issue 10 (October 2010), pp. 1202-1229.
  12. “Be Careful What You Wish For: A Cautionary Tale of Post-Communist Judicial Empowerment” Demokratizatsiya, Vol.18, No. 1 (Winter 2010), pp. 56-73.
  13. “Watchdogs or Attack Dogs? The Role of the Russian Courts and the CEC in the Resolution of Electoral Disputes”, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 58, No. 3 (May 2006), pp. 391-414.
  14. "Implicit Objections to the Rule of Law Doctrine in Russian Legal Thought", Journal of East European Law, Vol. 11, Nos. 2-3 (2004), pp. 205-229.
  15. “Rossiiskaya Pravovaya Mysl' i Printsip Verkhovenstva Prava: Problemy Adaptatsii i Neobkhodimost' Dialoga”, Konstitutsionnoe Pravo: Vostochnoevropeiskoe Obozrenie, Vol. 3, 44 (2003).

Book Chapters

  1. “The Post-Communist Judiciary: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back” in Engelbrekt, K. and Petia Kostadinova (eds.), Bulgaria’s Democratic Institutions at Thirty: A Balance Sheet (Lexington Books, 2020).

  2. “Prosecuting Corruption in Eastern Europe” (with Vincent Post) in Solomon, P. and Kaja Gadowska (eds.), Legal Change in Post-Communist States: Progress, Reversions, Explanations. Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society Series, (ibidem Press, 2019)

  3. “Journalists, Judges and State Officials: How Russian Courts Adjudicate Defamation Lawsuits Against Media” in Kurkchiyan, M. and Agnieszka Kubal (eds.), A Sociology of Justice in Russia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), pp. 141-169.
  4. “Ukraine’s Politicized Courts” in Hale, H. E. and Robert W. Orttung (eds.), Beyond the Euromaidan: Comparative Perspectives for Advancing Reform in Ukraine (Redwood City: Stanford University Press, 2016), pp. 143-161.
  5. “Who Brought Ataka to the Political Scene: Analysis of the Vote for Bulgaria’s Radical Nationalists” in Dragostinova, T. and Yana Hashamova (eds.), Beyond Mosque, Church, and State: Alternative Narratives of the Nation in the Balkans (Budapest and New York: Central European University Press, 2016), pp. 259-287.
  6. “Politizirovannoe pravosudie v novykh demokratiyakh: politicheskaya bor’ba i sudebnaya nezavisimost’ v Rossii i Ukraine” in Volkov, V. (ed.), Kak Sud’i Prinimayut Resheniya: Empiricheskie Issledovaniya Prava (Moscow: Statut, 2012), pp. 199-224.

Shorter Academic Writing

  1. “Ukraine’s Judiciary After Euromaidan.” Comparative Politics Newsletter Vol. 25, No. 2 (Fall 2015), pp. 32-36.
  2. “The 2014 Parliamentary Elections in Bulgaria.” Electoral Studies, Vol.38 (June 2015), pp. 114-118. With Petia Kostadinova.
  3. “The 2013 parliamentary elections in Bulgaria.” Electoral Studies, Vol. 34 (June 2014), pp. 365-368. With Petia Kostadinova.
  4. “Post-Communist Courts: Independence, Accountability, and Popular Trust,” Guest Editor’s Introduction, Problems of Post-Communism, vol. 59, no. 5 (SeptemberOctober 2012), pp. 3-5.

Policy Articles, Blog Posts and Op-eds

  1. “How Can Ukraine’s Long-Term Security Be Guaranteed?” PONARS Policy Exchange, June 3, 2022. With Oxana Shevel.
  2. “The Ukraine Crisis May Reinvigorate Eastern European Democracies” Washington Post Monkey Cage Blog, May 23, 2022. With Nikolay Marinov.
  3. “Was NATO Enlargement a Mistake? Foreign Affairs Asks the Experts,” Foreign Affairs, April 19, 2022.
  4. “How Canada Can Help Ukraine by Leading on the World Stage,” Policy Options, March 31, 2022.
  5. “Ukraine Belongs in the EU,” Journal of Democracy, March 18, 2022. With Oxana Shevel.
  6. “Putin’s War Was Never Actually About NATO,” Just Security (reprinted in Slate), February 24, 2022. With Oxana Shevel
  7. “Putin Cannot Erase Ukraine: No Russian Invasion Can Undo Ukrainian Nationhood,” Foreign Affairs, February 17, 2022. With Oxana Shevel.
  8. “Dangerous Diplomacy: Why Placating Putin Now Could Doom Ukrainian Democracy Later” Journal of Democracy, February 14, 2022. With Oxana Shevel.
  9. “The 2021 Bulgarian Election: A “QAnon” Turn for Eastern European Politics?” LSE EUROPP Blog, April 13, 2021 With Nikolay Marinov.
  10. "Das Trugbild vom Durchbruch zum Rechtsstaat: Justizreform nach der Revolution der Würde,” Ukraine-Analysen, Ausgabe 238, Oct 9, 2020. With Mykhailo Zhernakov
  11. “How Can the EU Help Ukraine Build the Rule of Law and Fight Corruption? Romania and Bulgaria as Guideposts,” PONARS Policy Memo, No. 469, April, 2017
  12. “Will There Be a “Full, Rapid and Transparent Investigation into Nemtsov’s Murder,” The Monkey Cage@The Washington Post, March 7, 2015
  13. “Ukraine’s Judicial Reforms,” VoxUkraine, December 15, 2014 (translated and reprinted by Ukrainska Pravda, December 17, 2014)
  14. “Ukraine’s Legal Problems: Why Kiev’s Plans to Purge the Judiciary Will Backfire,” Foreign Affairs, April 15, 2014
  15. “The Kremlin, Not Language, is Driving Ukraine Apart,” The Globe and Mail, April 15, 2014. With Matthew Light
  16. “What is Lustration and Is It a Good Idea for Ukraine to Adopt it?,” The Monkey Cage@ Washington Post, April 9, 2014 (reprinted by Kyiv Post). With Vincent Post.
  17. “Was Yanukovych’s Removal Constitutional?,” PONARS Eurasia Commentary, March 20, 2014
  18. “What Doesn’t Kill Ukraine…,” Foreign Policy, March 12, 2014. With Oxana Shevel
  19. “Why Domestic Developments in Ukraine Still Matter,” The Monkey Cage @ Washington Post, March 5, 2014
  20. “The Strange Court Case of Alexey Navalny,” The Monkey Cage, July 22, 2013
Selected talks and presentations: 

  • JUSTIN Institute, Masaryk University, Czechia. February 2021. Post-Maidan Judicial Reform

  • PONARS Eurasia, George Washington University. October 2020. The Politics of Corruption Prosecutions.

  • University of Manchester. June 2019. Post-Maidan Judicial Reforms.

  • University of Oxford, St. Anthony’s College. June 2019. Post-Maidan Judicial Reforms.

  • Miami University of Ohio. May 2019. Havighurst Center. Rule of Law Backsliding in Eastern Europe

  • Carleton University, Centre for European Studies. February 2019. The Rule of Law in Eastern Europe 15 Years after EU Accession

  • Ditchley Foundation, Chipping Norton, UK, May 2018. Brexit and the Future of Europe.

  • Columbia University, Harriman Institute, March 2018. Putin-Style “Rule of Law”

  • Princeton University, May 2017. Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption and Judicial Reforms.

  • Université Libre de Bruxelles, June 2015.  Ukraine’s Judiciary After Euromaidan.

  • Sciences Po, Centre de Recherches Internationales, Paris, June 2015.  Ukraine’s Judiciary After Euromaidan.
  • Leiden University, May 2015. Prosecution of Political Corruption in Eastern Europe
  • Universita di Bologna, March 2015. Prosecution of Political Corruption in Eastern Europe
  • Université de Montréal School of Law, November 2014. Constitutional Dimensions of the Ukrainian Crisis
  • University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, October 2014.  Ukraine Under the Fog of War.
  • Simon Fraser University, September 2014. Ukraine Under the Fog of War.
  • Emory University, March 2014. Electoral and Defamation Disputes in Russia and Ukraine, 1997-2012
  • University of Michigan, February 2014. Why Political Competition Undermines Judicial Independence in Hybrid Regimes
  • Columbia University, Harriman Institute, January 2014. Independent Courts in Russia: Say What?
  • Université de Montréal, January 2014. Ukraine’s Euromaidan: A Pro-European Revolution?
Courses: 
  • POLI 330: Law and Courts in Europe
  • POLI 331: Politics of East Central Europe and the Balkans
  • POLI 451: The European Union
  • POLI 639: Mixed Methods Research in European Studies
  • POLI 612: Research Methods in Political Science
Group: 
Associate Professor
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