Telephone number:	+31 (0)71 527 4118
E-Mail:	h.mazepus@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department:	Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Institute for History, Algemene Geschiedenis
Office Address:	Johan Huizingagebouw Doelensteeg 16 2311 VL Leiden Room number 2.72a
Personal Homepage:	www.hum.leiden.edu/​history/​staff/​mazepush.html

---

Fields of interest

In general I am interested in continuity and change of regimes and institutions and state-society relations. In particular I am interested in the political system of the Russian Federation and the position of Russia in international relations.

Research

Political legitimacy in undemocratic regimes: The case of Russia

My research focuses on political legitimacy in the Russian Federation. The concept of legitimacy lies at the heart of understanding regime changes, and is relevant when explaining the causes and characteristics of institutional transitions and the persistence of certain political systems. I am going to investigate the hybrid political regime that was created in Russia over the last decade, and research the consequences of this specific regime for political legitimacy. Hence, the two main concepts at the centre of my analysis are legitimacy and hybrid regime.
How does democratic legitimacy work under conditions of semi-authoritarianism? The focus of my research is the popular legitimacy in a semi-authoritarian regime, because there has been insufficient analysis of (a) what makes citizens in semi-authoritarian regimes grant legitimacy to the state institutions, (b) what features of semi-authoritarian political systems—the democratic or authoritarian features—citizens support, and (c) what is citizens' opinion about the government's responsiveness. Another aspect of legitimacy that will be assessed is the extent to which the results of governmental output in the Russian Federation are compatible with the value pattern of the society. I will try to develop a framework to analyse legitimacy in non-Western states.
In my previous research, I studied path dependent processes in the development of institutions in post-Soviet Russia and centralization of power of the Russian state within Russia and in post-Soviet region (MA thesis). Last year, for my MSc course at the University of Bristol, I focused on social science methodology and wrote a thesis on the relations between state and civil society in the Russian Federation.

Curriculum vitae

University of Bristol, UK, October 2010 - September 2011
MSc (with Distinction) in Social Science Research Methods (Politics)
MSc dissertation: "Will Russians remain silent? State control of civil society in a hybrid regime: A case of Russia"

University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan, Poland, October 2004 - May 2009
MA in International Relations (specialization Eastern/Russian Studies)
MA thesis: "Russian Political Path Dependence: Centralization in the domestic and foreign policies of the Russian Federation"

University of Groningen, Netherlands, September 2007 - July 2008
Erasmus Exchange, BA thesis: "The roles of president and political parties in the Russian Federation: A comeback of the past?"

Irkutsk State University, Russia, September - December 2006
Research Internship