• Filatov Maksym

• Filatov Maksym

Maksym Filatov

Political Regimes in Central and Eastern Europe: External Influences, Economic Dependencies, and Political Transformations

This course offers a comparative analysis of political regimes in Central and Eastern Europe, with particular emphasis on the interaction between domestic dynamics and international constraints. It examines authoritarian, hybrid, and democratic forms of governance, as well as the conditions underpinning their stability, adaptation, and transformation. The course is premised on the argument that regime trajectories cannot be explained solely through domestic variables. They are also shaped by external factors, including economic dependencies, sanctions, international institutions, security alliances, resource structures, and great-power competition. The European Union, the United States, China, and the BRICS are examined as major poles of influence that contribute to reshaping the scope for political autonomy available to states across the region.

The course integrates theoretical and analytical perspectives from comparative politics and international relations. It aims to provide students with the conceptual and methodological tools necessary to analyse regime trajectories within a regional environment characterised by the fragmentation of the international order, asymmetric interdependence, and multiple forms of external constraint.

Bibliography:

Drezner, D. W. (2011). Sanctions sometimes smart: Targeted sanctions in theory and practice. International Studies Review, 13(1), 96–108. George, A. L., & Bennett, A. (2005). Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. MIT Press. Grzymala-Busse, A. (2007). Rebuilding Leviathan: Party Competition and State Exploitation in Post-Communist Democracies. Cambridge University Press. Hale, H. E. (2015). Patronal Politics: Eurasian Regime Dynamics in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge University Press. Hellman, J. S. (1998). Winners take all: The politics of partial reform in postcommunist transitions. World Politics, 50(2), 203–234. Krasztev, P., & Van Til, J. (Eds.). (2015). The Hungarian Patient: Social Opposition to an Illiberal Democracy. Central European University Press. Levitsky, S., & Way, L. A. (2010). Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War. Cambridge University Press. Ross, M. L. (2012). The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations. Princeton University Press. Vachudova, M. A. (2005). Europe Undivided: Democracy, Leverage, and Integration after Communism. Oxford University Press. Way, L. A. (2005). The sources and dynamics of competitive authoritarianism in Ukraine. Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 20(1), 143–161. Wilson, A. (2021). Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship. Yale University Press.

As part of this seminar, students have the option of writing an essay or a seminar paper.

Students studying “Political Science”, students from outside the field of “Political Science”, BeNeFri students:

You may register for the seminar paper in Module 3: L41.00565 (6 ECTS)

Course | Timetable | University of Fribourg

or for the seminar paper in Module 4: L41.00566 (6 ECTS)

Course | Timetable | University of Fribourg

If you intend to write a seminar paper:

It is mandatory to inform the person in charge of the course, Maksym Filatov, at the beginning of the semester, and to enrol yourself in the seminar paper AND the exam during the same semester.

Without enrolment no grade or ECTS can be awarded.

All seminar papers for the autumn semester must be submitted by the deadline: 31 January 2027.