Dima Kortukov is a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Kentucky. He holds a PhD in political science from Indiana University. His scholarly interests include authoritarian politics, governance, democratization, political economy, conflict, and Russian/post-Communist politics. In his research, he analyzes the foundations of institutional change and explores the determinants of elite political behavior. He has published peer-reviewed solo-authored articles in Comparative Politics, Problems of Post-Communism, and Russian Politics on topics such as electoral reforms in Ukraine, the political economy of the post-Communist transition, and authoritarian ideology.