Back

ICFRC: Political Elites in Putin's Russia: Ideology, Foreign Policy and Public Support

Listen to an audio podcast of this program.

Danielle N. Lussier uses thought-provoking analysis on why democracy succeeds in some countries but not others, such as comparing the post-transition experiences of two cases of contemporary democratization: Russia and Indonesia. Following authoritarian regimes, democracy eroded in Russia but flourished in Indonesia - so confounding dominant theories of democratization that predicted the opposite outcomes based on their levels of socioeconomic development and histories of statehood.

Over the course of this luncheon, Lussier will discusses the key behaviours and patterns of political participation as a factor in Russian democracy and its political elite.

Danielle N. Lussier is an associate professor of political science. Her research focuses on democratization, political participation, and religion and politics, with geographic expertise on post-communist Eurasia and Indonesia. She is the author of Constraining Elites in Russia and Indonesia: Political Participation and Regime Survival (Cambridge University Press, 2016). Her research has also been published in Journal of Democracy, Religion & Politics, Problems of Post-Communism, Post-Soviet Affairs, and Slavic Review. Lussier is completing a second edition of The Many Faces of Political Islam with Mohammed Ayoob (Michigan State University) and is also developing a book manuscript on the role of houses of worship in the political lives of Muslims and Christians in Indonesia. Her research has been supported by the Global Religion Research Initiative, the Kennan Institute, and several programs at Grinnell College.

Lussier teaches courses on Russian politics, democratization and regime change, Islam and politics, and comparative politics. She also participates in the Russian, Central, and East European Studies concentration. If you would like to know more about her research, visit https://www.grinnell.edu/user/lussierd.

For more information on the Foreign Relations Council visit their website at www.icfrc.org.

Related Programs

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Living in Ukraine: My Story of an Unbreakable Nation
Recorded: August 24, 2023
Runtime: 01:05:41

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: How the Young Generation of African Political and Business Leaders are Carrying Nelson Mandela's Legacy
Recorded: July 19, 2023
Runtime: 01:27:50

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Earth Day in the Pacific
Recorded: April 19, 2023
Runtime: 01:16:34

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Tik Tok, Boom
Recorded: April 12, 2023
Runtime: 00:32:05

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Narrative Making and the Politics of Juxtaposition
Recorded: April 5, 2023
Runtime: 00:59:35

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Peace Corps Volunteer Service as a 50-Year-Old
Recorded: March 29, 2023
Runtime: 00:57:39

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: We Were Ever Here: Chinese Exchange Students in Iowa, 1909-1937
Recorded: March 22, 2023
Runtime: 00:58:20

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Islamic Feminism and Women's Rights
Recorded: March 8, 2023
Runtime: 01:04:22

thumbnail of video

ICFRC: Cedar Rapids' Afghan Community, 18 Months On
Recorded: March 1, 2023
Runtime: 01:01:37