Oxford Authoritarian Politics Network

DPIR’s Authoritarian Politics Network brings together graduate students and faculty with interdisciplinary and regional expertise from across the University to discuss research on authoritarian politics. It provides a space to discuss and advance interdisciplinary research and provide feedback on work in progress. 

Current research themes include: 

1. Public opinion in authoritarian regimes;
2. Autocracy promotion in the international system, for example through authoritarian propaganda targeting public opinion in democracies;
3. Protest and social movements;
4. Authoritarian ruling strategies: legal and bureaucratic repression and (digital) propaganda.

Network Leadership and Governance:

Jody LaPorte, Associate Professor, OSGA and Lincoln College

Katerina Tertytchnaya, Associate Professor in Comparative Politics, DPIR and Brasenose College

Maya Tudor, Professor of Politics and Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Governance

Scott Williamson, Associate Professor in Comparative Political Economy, DPIR and Magdalen College

Anne-Margret Wolf, Fellow, All Souls College

Network Members 

Konstantin Bogatyrev, Fellow, London School of Economics

Paul Chaisty, Professor, DPIR, OSGA and St Anthony’s College, (University of Oxford)

Isabella Cuervo-Lorens, DPhil Candidate, DPIR and Nuffield College  (University of Oxford)

Lisa Fan, Postdoctoral Researcher, DPIR (University of Oxford)

Luciana Fortuna, DPhil Candidate, DPIR and St Antony's College (University of Oxford)

Lily Green, DPhil Candidate, DPIR and University College  (University of Oxford)

Thomas Hazell, DPhil Candidate, DPIR and St Hilda’s College (University of Oxford)

Neil Ketchley, Professor and Fellow, DPIR and St Anthony’s College (University of Oxford)

Handi Li, Lecturer, Department of Political Science, University College London

Adeel Malik, Associate Professor and Globe Fellow, ODID and Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies  (University of Oxford)

Adnan Naseemullah, Professor, OSGA and Wolfson College (University of Oxford)

Iuliana Nyerges, DPhil Candidate, DPIR and Balliol College (University of Oxford)

Ekaterina Rebinskaya, DPhil Candidate, DPIR and St Cross College  (University of Oxford)

Michael Rochlitz, Associate Professor, OSGA and St Antony's College (University of Oxford)

Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd, Associate Researcher and Junior Research Fellow, DPIR and Magdalen College

Patricija Romina Smolnikar

Alayna Yap, MPhil Student, DPIR and St Anne's College (University of Oxford)

Eddy S. F. Yeung, University of Oxford, and Texas A&M University

Past members 

Fabio Angiolillo, Postdoctoral Researcher, Kellogg Institute, University of Notre Dame

Sirianne Dahlum, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo

Yilin Su, PhD Student, University College London

Andrea Vaccaro, Max Weber Fellow, European University Institute 

Tore Wig, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo

Network Events:

Academic Year 2025-2026

May 27, 2026: Political Communication in Autocracies Conference

May 19, 2026: OAPN Work in Progress Seminar 

• Patricija Romina Smolnikar “From Regency to Consolidation: Authoritarian Succession in Kazakhstan in Comparative Perspective” 
• Mikhail Korneev “Pseudo-Democratic Innovations and Genuine Regime Support in Russia” (OAPN Work in Progress Seminar)
• Danil Romanov “Religion and Political Participation: New Causal Evidence from Orthodox Church Expansion in Russia” (OAPN Work in Progress Seminar)

May 8, 2026: (joint with the DPIR Politics Colloquium) Margaret Roberts “How Government Control of Media Influences Large Language Models” 

April 28, 2026: Iza Ding “Mischief of the Franchise: Imperial Psychology and British ‘Granting’ of Universal Suffrage in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), 1927–1931” 

February 26, 2026: OAPN Work in Progress Seminar 

• Isabella Cuervo- Lorens & Gabrielle Gooch “An Authoritarian Shadow Effect: Judicial Impact and Interbranch Politics in Nondemocratic Regimes” (OAPN Work in Progress Seminar) 
• Lisa Fan “Gendered Expressions of Loyalty: How Women Play the Sycophant Card” (OAPN Work in Progress Seminar)

November 26, 2025: OAPN Work in Progress Seminar 

• Neil Ketchley, Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheer & Azim Wazeer “State Dependency and Protest in a Late Developing Economy” 
• Fabio Angiolillo “Guilt By Association: Past State-Based Violence's Determinants for Fascist Organizational Strength” (OAPN Work in Progress Seminar)

November 4, 2025: OAPN Work in Progress Seminar 

• Yuhan Hu “Seeing Dissent: Authoritarian Media, Protest Framing, and the Politics of Visual Narratives” 
• Eddy Yeung “After Repression: The Impacts of Confession Propaganda upon Failed Uprisings” (OAPN Work in Progress Seminar)

October 21, 2025: OAPN Social 

Academic Year 2024-2025 

June 19, 2025: OAPN Work in Progress Seminar 

• Azim Wazeer and Isabella Cuervo- Lorens “‘Safe Punching Bags?’ The Impact of Autocratic Status Challenges on Democratic Middle Powers”
• Michael Rochlitz “Algorithmic Governance Solutions, Institutional Gaps and Political Control in Central Asia: Evidence from Kazakhstan” 

May 13, 2025: Network Guest Lecture by Jennifer Gandhi, Yale University

May 12, 2025: Scott Williamson book workshop, “The King Can Do No Wrong: Blame Games and Power Sharing in Authoritarian Regimes”

May 9, 2025: Network Guest Lecture by Monika Nalepa, University of Chicago

April 24, 2025: Authoritarian Politics Conference, All Souls College

February 12, 2025: Ralph Schroeder book presentation on social media and political change in China and India, Oxford Internet Institute

Keep up to date with the Oxford Authoritarian Politics Network.

Subscribe to our mailing list to be informed about the network's meetings and events.