Senior Capstone Project

01

I settled on the intersection of government and economies, ultimately reaching my overall topic: How have authoritarian governments altered the trajectory of post-Cold War economies? 

Research
October-December

I have completed my initial research phase. ​During the process, I wanted to better understand the structure of government in China and Russia, as well as the state of their economies throughout past decades. My goal was to compare China and Russia as authoritarian governments. By the end, I hoped to become knowledgeable about these countries and try to challenge my biased opinions as an American.

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Some of my guiding questions were: 

• How have the economies in China and Russia evolved over past decades?

• What are the structures of these countries’ governments?

• How do their governments relate to one another? How are they different?

• How do these governments rely upon tactics of capitalism and free markets?

• How do personal freedoms and the effects of government dictate how citizens act and contribute to the economy?

• Is economic growth driven by human rights violations?

• How does the structure of government affect quality of life?

• Does economic prosperity necessarily correlate with quality of life?

• Why do similar and opposite forms of government cause such diverse economic results?

• What does the class divide look like in these countries?

• To what extent are these countries oligarchical?

• What were the lasting effects of the Cold War? How were these countries’ economies different before?

• What does the future of these countries’ economies look like?

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As of finishing my rough draft of my paper, here are some of my sources (research!):

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Dabrowski, Marek. “Thirty Years of Economic Transition in the Former Soviet Union.” Russian Journal of Economics, vol. 9, no. 1, Apr. 2023, pp. 1–32. RUJEC, https://doi.org/10.32609/j.ruje.9.104761.

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Dresen, F. Joseph. “Russia’s Capitalist Revolution: Why Market Reform Succeeded and Democracy Failed.” Wilson Center, 7 July 2011, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/russias-capitalist-revolution-why-market-reform-succeeded-and-democracy-failed.

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Freedom House. “Russia: Freedom in the World 2025.” Freedom in the World, Freedom House, https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2025. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.

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Freedom House. “China: Freedom in the World 2025.” Freedom in the World, Freedom House, https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2025. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.

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Graham, Thomas. “How Firm Is Vladimir Putin’s Grip on Power?” Council on Foreign Relations, 2 Oct. 2023, https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/how-firm-vladimir-putins-grip-power#.

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Kandhari, Jitania. “China’s Past, Present, and Future.” Morgan Stanley, 2023, https://www.morganstanley.com/im/publication/insights/articles/article_thebigpicturechinapastpresentfuture_us.pdf. Accessed 20 Nov. 2025.

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Lawrence, Susan V. “China Primer: China’s Political System.” Congressional Research Service, 3 Jan. 2025, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12505.

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McFaul, Michael. Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder. Mariner Books, 28 Oct. 2025.

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“Political System of Russia.” Embassy of the Russian Federation in the People’s Republic of China, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, https://pekin.mid.ru/en/countries/rossiya/politicheskaya_sistema/. Accessed Dec. 19, 2025.

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Silver, Laura, and Janell Fetterolf. “Who Likes Authoritarianism, and How Do They Want to Change Their Government?” Pew Research Center, 28 Feb. 2024, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/02/28/who-likes-authoritarianism-and-how-do-they-want-to-change-their-government/

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World Bank. “GDP (Current US$) — China.” World Development Indicators, The World Bank Group, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=CN. Accessed 20 Nov. 2025.

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World Bank. “GDP (Current US$) — Russia.” World Development Indicators, The World Bank Group, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=RU. Accessed 19 Dec. 2025.

Research Paper
December-January

Products
February-April