Research and teaching activities of the Chair of Politics cover the entire variety of political processes and institutions in Eastern Europe and in the post-Soviet Eurasia (with a special focus on Russia). Our research has a particular focus on the studies of comparative authoritarianism. How do authoritarian regimes in the post-Communist world function? What are the differences between the post-Communist regimes and autocracies in other parts of the world? Which factors lead to the consolidation of authoritarian regimes and to their collapse and to democratization? We investigate both the emergence and the end of authoritarian regimes and their internal dynamics and transformations: transition between different types of authoritarian rule, conflicts and coalitions in authoritarian elites, bureaucracy of authoritarian states and its interaction with politics. While political science forms the core of our research, it is augmented by a variety of interdisciplinary approaches including those of economics and sociology.