Published Articles
Rosenfeld, Bryn. 2022. "Survey Research in Russia: In the Shadow of War." Post-Soviet Affairs 39(1-2): 38-48. [Abstract] [Download Paper]
Paskhalis, Tom, Bryn Rosenfeld and Katerina Tertytchnaya. 2022. "Independent Media under Pressure: Evidence from Russia." Post-Soviet Affairs 38(3): 155-174. [Download Paper]
Rosenfeld, Bryn. 2022. "Belarusian Public Opinion and the 2020 Uprising." Post-Soviet Affairs, 38(1-2): 150-154. [Abstract][Download Paper]
Pop-Eleches, Grigore, Graeme Robertson and Bryn Rosenfeld. 2022. "Protest Participation and Attitude Change: Evidence from Ukraine's Euromaidan Revolution." The Journal of Politics 84(2): 625-638. [Abstract] [Download Paper][Replication Archive]
Rosenfeld, Bryn. 2021. "State Dependency and the Limits of Middle Class Support for Democracy." Comparative Political Studies 54(3-4): 411-444. [Abstract][Download Paper][Replication Archive]
Scholars have long viewed the middle class as an agent of democratization. This paper provides the first rigorous cross-national analysis of middle class regime preference, systematically investigating the importance of an authoritarian state's economic relationship with the middle class. Using detailed survey data on individual employment histories from 27 post-communist countries, I show that, under autocracy, state-sector careers diminish support for democracy, especially among middle class professionals. The results are robust to changes in the measurement of both the middle class and democracy support. I also show that neither selection nor response bias, redistributive preferences, communist socialization, or transition experiences can explain the results. The findings imply that a state-supported middle class may, in fact, delay democratization.