Week 08

Fighting Authoritarian Propaganda

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Lecture Readings

During the lecture, we will especially focus on Opposition through Humor and Critical Journalism. However, we will also briefly discuss the other two topics.

Opposition Political Communication

ARTICLE

Voting for Democracy: Campaign Effects in Chile’s Democratic Transition

Taylor C. Boas

Latin American Politics and Society (2015)

ARTICLE

Keep Positive and Defend Democracy: Framing Democratic Messages under Authoritarianism

Aykut Öztürk, Steven E. Finkel, Anja Neundorf and Ericka Rascón Ramírez

European Journal of Political Research (2026)

WEB ARTICLE

How to Defeat the Authoritarian Message

Filip Milačić

Journal of Democracy (2026)

Opposition through Humor

BOOK

Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria

Lisa Wedeen

University of Chicago Press (2015 edition)

Reading guidance: Chapter 4, “Signs of Transgression.”

ARTICLE

The Road to Cynicism: The Political Consequences of Online Satire Exposure in China

Li Shao and Dongshu Liu

Political Studies (2019)

Critical Journalism

BOOK CHAPTER

Critical Journalists in China and Russia: Encounters with Ambiguity

Maria Repnikova

In Citizens and the State in Authoritarian Regimes: Comparing China and Russia (2020)

ARTICLE

Independent Media under Pressure: Evidence from Russia

Tom Paskhalis, Bryn Rosenfeld and Katerina Tertytchnaya

Post-Soviet Affairs (2022)

Further Readings

More on Opposition Political Communication

Aikande Clement Kwayu
“Determinants of a Political Party’s Social Media Strategy: A Comparative Analysis of Tanzania’s Opposition Political Parties’ Twitter Practices”
Party Politics (2022)

Leonid Peisakhin, Arturas Rozenas and Sergey Sanovich
“Mobilizing Opposition Voters under Electoral Authoritarianism: A Field Experiment in Russia”
Research & Politics (2020)

Valerie J. Bunce and Sharon L. Wolchik
“Defeating Dictators: Electoral Change and Stability in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes”
World Politics (2010)

More on Political Humor

Saifuddin Ahmed and Muhammad Masood
“Breaking Barriers With Memes: How Memes Bridge Political Cynicism to Online Political Participation”
Social Media + Society (2024)

Jessica Winegar
“The Power of Nonsense: Humour in Egypt’s Counter/Revolution”
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (2021)

Galina Miazhevich
“Sites of Subversion: Online Political Satire in Two Post-Soviet States”
Media, Culture & Society (2015)

More on Artistic Productions

Molly Flynn
Witness Onstage: Documentary Theatre in Twenty-First-Century Russia
Manchester University Press (2019)

Dorottya Rédai
“Lesbian Resistance through Fairytales: The Story of a Children’s Book Clashing with an Authoritarian Anti-Gender Regime in Hungary”
Journal of Lesbian Studies (2024)

James Rowson
Politics and Putinism: A Critical Examination of New Russian Drama
Doctoral thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London (2017)
Reading guidance: Chapter 2, which discusses BerlusPutin.

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