Research

Book 
Chapters
“Russia's Invasion and Ukraine's Resistance”
Forthcoming, 2024. In Henry E. Hale, Juliet Johnson, Tomila Lankina (eds.) Developments in Russian Politics Ten.

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"Politicization of Courts in European Democracies"
2023. In Robert M. Howard, Kirk A. Randazzo, and Rebecca A. Reid (eds.), Research Handbook on Law and Political Systems. With Christine Rothmayr.

"Journalists and policy-makers in the West have often assumed that the religious and ethno-national heterogeneity of the Balkans is the underlying reason for the numerous problems the area has faced throughout the twentieth century. The multiple and turbulent political transitions in the area, the dynamics of the interaction between Christianity and Islam, the contradictory and constantly shifting nationality policies, and the fluctuating identities of the diverse populations continue to be seen as major challenges to the stability of the region. By exploring the development of intricate religious, linguistic, and national dynamics in a variety of case studies throughout the Balkans, this volume demonstrates the existence of alternatives and challenges to nationalism in the area. The authors analyze a variety of national, non-national, and anti-national(ist) encounters in four areas—Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania—traditionally seen as “hot-beds” of nationalist agitation and tension resulting from their populations' religious or ethno-national diversity. In their entirety, the contributions in this volume chart a more complex picture of the national dynamics. The authors recognize the existence of national tensions both in historical perspective and in contemporary times, but also suggest the possibility of different paths to the nation that did not involve violence but allowed for national accommodation and reconciliation."
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"Ukraine: Between National Security and the Rule of Law"
2022. In Olena Palko and Manuel Férez Gil (eds.), "Ukraine's Many Faces: Land, People & Culture Revisited"
My research suggests two broad conclusions. First, there is no institutional silver bullet that improves rule of law, reduces corruption, and increases transparency. We cannot create well-functioning, impartial judiciaries through institutional engineering – best practices such as life tenure for judges, a Supreme Judicial Council in charge of judicial careers and financing, institutional insulation of the judiciary from the political branches are often either insufficient or, sometimes, counterproductive in producing the desired outcomes – impartial courts that uphold the rule of law. Instead, it is more important to have the right people in positions of power, both in the judiciary and in the political branches, people who are motivated to improve the rule of law, people who believe in independent and impartial courts and bring about change. Second, political regime matters a lot. Establishing the rule of law in an authoritarian regime is a chimera. As messy as democracies can be, sustained political competition slowly and gradually brings about positive change in terms of independent courts, which can constrain incumbents and maintain regime openness.
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“The Post-Communist Judiciary: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back”
2020. In Engelbrekt, K. and Petia Kostadinova (eds.), Bulgaria’s Democratic Institutions at Thirty: A Balance Sheet.
This chapter lays out evidence of both the successes and failures of Bulgarian judicial reforms over the past 30 years.
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“Prosecuting Corruption in Eastern Europe”
2019. 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.
"Reformers had high hopes that the end of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union would lead to significant improvements in legal institutions and the role of law in public administration. However, the cumulative experience of twenty-five years of legal change since communism has been mixed, marked by achievements and failures, advances and moves backward. This book—written by a team of socio-legal scholars—probes the nuances of this process and starts the process to explain them. It covers developments across the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and it deals with both legal institutions (courts and police) and accountability to law in public administration, including anticorruption activities. In explaining their findings, the authors probe the impact of such factors as the type of political regime (democratic to authoritarian), international influences (such as the European Union), and culture (legal and political)."
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“Journalists, Judges and State Officials: How Russian Courts Adjudicate Defamation Lawsuits Against Media”
2018. In Kurkchiyan, M. and Agnieszka Kubal (eds.), A Sociology of Justice in Russia. Cambridge University Press.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Russian courts heard between 10,000 and 15,000 defamation cases per year, which means that there was one per approximately 14,500 Russians. By comparison, in the UK, often dubbed a ‘defamation tourism’ destination for its supposedly high volume of defamation cases, courts hear only about 250 cases per year, for a per capita rate of one in 1.5 million. In other words, Russia’s per capita defamation lawsuit rate is 100 times greater than the UK’s! Why do Russians generate so many defamation cases? Who sues to protect their dignity and reputation the most often? What are some common triggers of defamation lawsuits? How do Russian judges decide defamation disputes? Who wins and who loses? Who gets a moral damage award and what determines its size? Does the political affiliation of the plaintiff affect their chances in court? The answers to these questions reveal part of the civil justice experience in Russia and illuminate the influence of Russian legal culture over judicial outcomes. They also carry important implications for the state of Russia’s media landscape and the independence of the courts from political interference. To address these questions, this chapter delves into the legislative basis for defamation disputes and the jurisprudence of Russia’s top court on the subject. It also analyses an original dataset that I compiled based on information collected by the Glasnost Defence Foundation (GDF). The dataset contains extensive information on close to 2,000 civil defamation complaints against media outlets, adjudicated by ordinary Russian courts from the majority of Russian federal regions, between 1997 and 2011.
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Ukraine’s Politicized Courts”
2016. In Hale, H. E. and Robert W. Orttung (eds.), Beyond the Euromaidan: Comparative Perspectives for Advancing Reform in Ukraine. Stanford University Press.
Many other aspects of reform, including economic reform and democratization, depend in large part on a functioning judicial system. Maria Popova’s findings reported in this chapter on politicized prosecution in Ukraine are sobering. Looking at a series of cases from 2001 to 2010, she determines that under the Yanukovych administration, political prosecution became a more effective means to sideline one’s rivals. While this might be explained in terms of Yanukovych’s greater enmity to democracy, Popova hypothesizes that a process of authoritarian learning is at work, in that Yanukovych and others have learned over time how to use the prosecution process more effectively. This outcome highlights that not all actors are interested in reform; and that policy innovation can be for the worse as well as the better.
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“Who Brought Ataka to the Political Scene: Analysis of the Vote for Bulgaria’s Radical Nationalists”
2016. In Dragostinova, T. and Yana Hashamova (eds.), Beyond Mosque, Church, and State: Alternative Narratives of the Nation in the Balkans. Central European University Press.
"Journalists and policy-makers in the West have often assumed that the religious and ethno-national heterogeneity of the Balkans is the underlying reason for the numerous problems the area has faced throughout the twentieth century. The multiple and turbulent political transitions in the area, the dynamics of the interaction between Christianity and Islam, the contradictory and constantly shifting nationality policies, and the fluctuating identities of the diverse populations continue to be seen as major challenges to the stability of the region. By exploring the development of intricate religious, linguistic, and national dynamics in a variety of case studies throughout the Balkans, this volume demonstrates the existence of alternatives and challenges to nationalism in the area. The authors analyze a variety of national, non-national, and anti-national(ist) encounters in four areas—Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania—traditionally seen as “hot-beds” of nationalist agitation and tension resulting from their populations' religious or ethno-national diversity. In their entirety, the contributions in this volume chart a more complex picture of the national dynamics. The authors recognize the existence of national tensions both in historical perspective and in contemporary times, but also suggest the possibility of different paths to the nation that did not involve violence but allowed for national accommodation and reconciliation."
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"Ukraine and Russia"
2015. Special Report, The 2015 World Book Yearbook: A Review of the Events of 2014 With Juliet Johnson. World Book Press, Inc.
"The 2015 Year Book features eight Special Reports chronicling a range of events, including a thorough discussion on a movement called “urban homesteading,” concerning what urban dwellers are doing to get fresh food without processing, antibiotics, and unwanted chemicals; the 125th anniversary of Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre and its remarkable history; the 2014 World Cup, won by Germany, which was held in Brazil in June and July; a history of Ukraine from independence to 2014 that explains how we arrived at the 2014 crisis between Russia and Ukraine; an obituary of American writer Maya Angelou; a story on the severe drought in the western United States, and especially in California, where the state is struggling to provide water for its 38 million citizens and its agriculture; the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, including all medal winners; and an obituary of Robin Williams, comic and Oscar-winning actor, whose career spanned nearly four decades."
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Как судьи принимают решения: эмпирические исследования права /
2012. In Volkov, V. (ed.), Как судьи принимают решения: эмпирические исследования права / Kak Sud’i Prinimayut Resheniya: Empiricheskie Issledovaniya Prava. Statut.
"Journalists and policy-makers in the West have often assumed that the religious and ethno-national heterogeneity of the Balkans is the underlying reason for the numerous problems the area has faced throughout the twentieth century. The multiple and turbulent political transitions in the area, the dynamics of the interaction between Christianity and Islam, the contradictory and constantly shifting nationality policies, and the fluctuating identities of the diverse populations continue to be seen as major challenges to the stability of the region. By exploring the development of intricate religious, linguistic, and national dynamics in a variety of case studies throughout the Balkans, this volume demonstrates the existence of alternatives and challenges to nationalism in the area. The authors analyze a variety of national, non-national, and anti-national(ist) encounters in four areas—Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania—traditionally seen as “hot-beds” of nationalist agitation and tension resulting from their populations' religious or ethno-national diversity. In their entirety, the contributions in this volume chart a more complex picture of the national dynamics. The authors recognize the existence of national tensions both in historical perspective and in contemporary times, but also suggest the possibility of different paths to the nation that did not involve violence but allowed for national accommodation and reconciliation."
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Copyright © 2023 Alex O'Neill.