I recently completed my DPhil in Politics, where my research tackled the dynamics of legislative debate across democratic, backsliding, and authoritarian regimes, with a particular focus on the Russian Duma from 1996 to 2021. My work explores how authoritarian regimes strategically weaponize parliamentary institutions—not just to limit opposition but to craft narratives that solidify regime legitimacy. It argues that legislators must navigate between formal rules that restrict floor time and informal power structures that determine who gets to speak, and more importantly, what they can say. My research shows how governmental and systemic opposition members alike navigate these restrictions, revealing how leaders and backbenchers diverge in their speechmaking practices in a way which is moderated by the party system.

Before my DPhil at Oxford, I earned my MSc from the London School of Economics and my BA from the University of Texas at Austin.