Founded in 2019, the AP Lab (Authoritarian Politics Lab) was created to address the challenge of authoritarianism in Russia and around the world. The Lab fosters research on the foundations of authoritarian rule, on mobilization of people for and against authoritarian regimes and on major issues of governance in non-democratic and semi-democratic contexts. Understanding these issues is central to the goal of strengthening and spreading the institutions and values of democracy around the world.
The main working group of the lab meets frequently to discuss student and faculty research in a collaborative environment.
To date the main goal of the Lab has been to develop research on questions of authoritarianism and protest using cutting edge methodologies.
- Papers developed in the APLab have recently been published in the top three political science journals in the world – the American Journal of Political Science, the American Political Science Review, and the Journal of Politics.
- The reputation of the APLab as a premier place to discuss research on authoritarianism is spreading, with participation from graduate students and post-docs in Russia, Germany and at leading US institutions such as Cornell University.
- The first generation of APLab students have graduated and moved to jobs at the University of Richmond, Oklahoma State, Princeton University, Stanford University and Vassar College.