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Maria Popova

Academic title(s): 

Associate Professor

泭

Maria Popova
Contact Information
Address: 

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

Office: 
Ferrier 462
Degree(s): 

BA, Dartmouth

MA, PhD, Harvard

Curriculum vitae: 
PDF icon popova_cv_2024.pdf
Link(s): 
Research areas: 
Comparative Government and Politics
Biography: 

Maria Popova is an Associate Professor of Political Science at 51勛圖厙 and Scientific Director of the Jean Monnet Centre Montreal. She also serves as Editor of the Cambridge Elements Series on Politics and Society from Central Europe to Central Asia. Her work explores the rule of law and democracy in Eastern Europe. Her first book Politicized Justice in Emerging Democracies, which won the American Association for Ukrainian Studies book prize in 2013, examines the weaponization of law to manipulate elections and control the media in Russia and Ukraine. Her recent articles have focused on judicial and anticorruption reform in post-Maidan Ukraine, the politics of anticorruption campaigns in Eastern Europe, conspiracies, and illiberalism. Her new book with Oxana Shevel on the roots of the Russo-Ukrainian war entitled Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States is available from Polity Press:

Specialization: 

Comparative politics,泭European politics (Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia), post-Communist transformation, courts and politics, corruption and anticorruption.

Areas of interest: 
  • European Politics: rule of law, populism, corruption, anti-establishment parties, EU accession, protest, Ukraine, Bulgaria.
  • Comparative Judicial Politics: judicial independence, global expansion of judicial power, post-communist judicial reforms, politics of corruption prosecutions.
  • Russian politics: authoritarian consolidation, weaponization of law.
Professional activities: 
  • Scientific Director, Jean Monnet Centre Montreal
  • Editor, Cambridge Elements Series, Politics and Society from Central Europe to Central Asia
Current research: 
  • The Russo-Ukrainian War
  • Ukraine's Road to EU Accession: judicial and anticorruption reform
  • Prosecution of political corruption in the Balkans and East Central Europe
  • Foreign-educated reformist politicians in Eastern European democracies
Selected publications: 

Books

Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States. London. Polity Press. 2024.

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. "Ukraine is Europe: Lessons for Europe and for Political Science," European Political Science, 23(3). With Oxana Shevel
  2. Civil Society as an Informal Institution in Ukraines Judicial Reform Process, German Law Journal, 24(8), pp. 1488-1502. With Serhii Lashyn and Anastasia Leshchyshyn.
  3. ", (2022) Journal of Narrative Politics 8 (2).
  4. Will the Real Conspiracy Please Stand Up: Sources of Post-Communist Democratic Failure, (2022) Perspectives on Politics, 20 (1): 222 - 236. With Nikolay Marinov
  5. "" (2020) Law & Policy, Vol. 42, Iss. 4, pp. 365-381.
  6. "No Revolution of Dignity for Ukraines Judges: Judicial Reform After Maidan (2020)泭Demokratizatsiya 28 (1): 113-142. With Daniel Beers
  7. Prosecuting High-Level Corruption in Eastern Europe. (2018) Communist and Post-Communist Studies 51( 3):泭231-244. With Vincent Post.
  8. "Putin-Style Rule of Law & the Prospects for Change." Daedalus, Vol. 146, No. 2 (2017), pp. 64-75
  9. 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: 苤訄 邽 郋邾訄郱訄 郇訄 郈郋郕郋邾郇邽邽迮郕邽迮 郅邽邽: 郱訄郋 訇郅迣訄郕邽 郈郋迮 苤 郱訄邽赲訄, 訄 郕訄邽郇郕邽 赲郋邾訄邿迡訄郇 迮郕訄郅邽訄?, 郕郇. 45, 訇. 1/2016, . 107-129.
  10. Die Entwicklung der ukrainischen Justiz seit dem Euromaidan, Transit: Europaische Revue, Vol. 48 (Winter 2015/Fruhling 2016), pp. 136-156.
  11. 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.
  12. Why Doesnt the Bulgarian Judiciary Prosecute Corruption? Problems of PostCommunism, Vol. 59, No. 5 (September-October, 2012), pp. 35-49.
  13. 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.
  14. Be Careful What You Wish For: A Cautionary Tale of Post-Communist Judicial Empowerment Demokratizatsiya, Vol.18, No. 1 (Winter 2010), pp. 56-73.
  15. 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.
  16. "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.
  17. Rossiiskaya Pravovaya Mysl' i Printsip Verkhovenstva Prava: Problemy Adaptatsii i Neobkhodimost' Dialoga, Konstitutsionnoe Pravo: Vostochnoevropeiskoe Obozrenie, Vol. 3, 44 (2003).

Book Chapters

  1. Judicialization of Corruption in Macedo Pinto de Sousa, Luis and Susana Coroado (eds.) Encyclopaedia in Corruption and Society. 2024. Elgar, pp. 169-173.

  2. Russias Invasion and Ukraines Resistance in Hale, Henry, Juliet Johnson, and Tomila Lankina (eds.) Developments in Russian Politics 10. 2024. Bloomsbury. With Oxana Shevel.

  3. Politicization of Courts in European Democracies in Howard, Robert, Rebecca A. Reid, and Kirk M. Randazzo (eds.) Research Handbook on Law and Political Systems. 2023. Elgar, pp. 170-186. With Christine Rothmayr Allison.

  4. Ukraine Between National Security and the Rule of Law in Palko, Olena and Manuel Ferez, eds. Ukraines Many Faces. 2023. Transcript verlag and Columbia University Press, pp. 291-296; Spanish version published as Ucrania: Entre la seguridad nacional y el Estado de Derecho in Palko, Olena and Manuel Ferez, Descubriendo Ucrania. Su pueblo, su historia y su cultura, Poliedro Editorial de la Universidad de San Isidro, pp. 187-191.

  5. Garantir la s矇curit矇 long terme de lUkraine in Le R矇veil Europ矇en et Transatlantique. 2022. Ed. des Equateurs. With Oxana Shevel

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

  7. 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)

  8. 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.
  9. Ukraines 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.
  10. Who Brought Ataka to the Political Scene: Analysis of the Vote for Bulgarias 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.
  11. Politizirovannoe pravosudie v novykh demokratiyakh: politicheskaya borba i sudebnaya nezavisimost v Rossii i Ukraine in Volkov, V. (ed.), Kak Sudi Prinimayut Resheniya: Empiricheskie Issledovaniya Prava (Moscow: Statut, 2012), pp. 199-224.

Shorter Academic Writing

  1. Ukraines 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 Editors Introduction, Problems of Post-Communism, vol. 59, no. 5 (SeptemberOctober 2012), pp. 3-5.

Policy Articles, Blog Posts and Op-eds

  1. Il ne faut pas abandonner les Ukrainiens La Presse, February 23, 2024. With Justin Massie.
  2. Just Security, December 21, 2022. With Oxana Shevel.
  3. PONARS Policy Exchange, June 3, 2022. With Oxana Shevel.
  4. Washington Post Monkey Cage Blog, May 23, 2022. With Nikolay Marinov.
  5. , Foreign Affairs, April 19, 2022.
  6. , Policy Options, March 31, 2022.
  7. , Journal of Democracy, March 18, 2022. With Oxana Shevel.
  8. , Just Security (reprinted in Slate), February 24, 2022. With Oxana Shevel
  9. , Foreign Affairs, February 17, 2022. With Oxana Shevel.
  10. Journal of Democracy, February 14, 2022. With Oxana Shevel.
  11. The 2021 Bulgarian Election: A QAnon Turn for Eastern European Politics? LSE EUROPP Blog, April 13, 2021 With Nikolay Marinov.
  12. "Das Trugbild vom Durchbruch zum Rechtsstaat: Justizreform nach der Revolution der W羹rde, Ukraine-Analysen, Ausgabe 238, Oct 9, 2020. With Mykhailo Zhernakov
  13. 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
  14. Will There Be a Full, Rapid and Transparent Investigation into Nemtsovs Murder, The Monkey Cage@The Washington Post, March 7, 2015
  15. Ukraines Judicial Reforms, VoxUkraine, December 15, 2014 (translated and reprinted by Ukrainska Pravda, December 17, 2014)
  16. Ukraines Legal Problems: Why Kievs Plans to Purge the Judiciary Will Backfire, Foreign Affairs, April 15, 2014
  17. The Kremlin, Not Language, is Driving Ukraine Apart, The Globe and Mail, April 15, 2014. With Matthew Light
  18. 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.
  19. Was Yanukovychs Removal Constitutional?, PONARS Eurasia Commentary, March 20, 2014
  20. What Doesnt Kill Ukraine, Foreign Policy, March 12, 2014. With Oxana Shevel
  21. Why Domestic Developments in Ukraine Still Matter, The Monkey Cage @ Washington Post, March 5, 2014
  22. The Strange Court Case of Alexey Navalny, The Monkey Cage, July 22, 2013
Courses: 
  • POLI 212泭 Introduction to Comparative Politics: Europe and North America
  • 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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