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Alexei Zakharov

@alexeizakharov.bsky.social
64 followers 73 following 27 posts

Political economist working on autocracies. Based at UChicago

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Alexei Zakharov @alexeizakharov.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
[1/3] It appears that Putin has upped his game to the point where Western politicians (though not yet national leaders) have become targets. This is played to multiple Western audiences. Putin needs Western decision-makers who show their solidarity with Ukraine to fear for their safety.
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Alexei Zakharov @alexeizakharov.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
(1/4) I'm happy to share a working paper I just wrote with Egor Bronnikov, a PhD student at Maastricht University. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Signaling Vice: Why Looking Bad Wins Votes
We use a formal model to analyze why politicians engage in vice signaling - a deliberate display of bad behavior, transgressive views, or lack of moral integrit
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Alexei Zakharov @alexeizakharov.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
[1/2] Mr. Remeslo was a Kremlin operative whose job was to emulate public resentment against opposition figures, and, in particular, Alexei Navalny.
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Alexei Zakharov @alexeizakharov.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Putin and his cronies seem to have a near-religious belief that things can be covered up. Even though time after time the truth rises. This was the way with the first Navalny's poisoning, which he miraculously survived and exposed, and with the second, when Navalny was killed.
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Alexei Zakharov @alexeizakharov.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
[1/3] I'm happy to share the news that my paper "Propaganda to a Cynical Audience" is out at Political Science Research and Methods.
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