Senior Capstone Project
How have authoritarian governments altered the trajectory of post-Cold War economies?
01
Brainstorming & Peer-review
September-October
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?
02
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.
Some of my guiding questions were:
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How have the economies in China and Russia evolved over past decades?
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What are the structures of these countries’ governments?
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How do their governments relate to one another? How are they different?
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How do these governments rely upon tactics of capitalism and free markets?
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How do personal freedoms and the effects of government dictate how citizens act and contribute to the economy?
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Is economic growth driven by human rights violations?
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How does the structure of government affect quality of life?
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Does economic prosperity necessarily correlate with quality of life?
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Why do similar and opposite forms of government cause such diverse economic results?
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What does the class divide look like in these countries?
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To what extent are these countries oligarchical?
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What were the lasting effects of the Cold War? How were these countries’ economies different before?
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What does the future of these countries’ economies look like?
Here are some of my most valuable sources:
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.
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.
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#.
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.
Lawrence, Susan V. “China Primer: China’s Political System.” Congressional Research Service, 3 Jan. 2025, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12505.
McFaul, Michael. Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder. Mariner Books, 28 Oct. 2025.
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/
03
Research Paper
December-January
This winter, I completed a 7-10+ page research paper that seeks to analyze the divergence of China and Russia's post-Cold War economies.
I analyzed the governmental structures in both China and Russia and drew connections between policy and economic outcomes.
My paper's goal was to argue against biased views of authoritarianism that simplify the complex nature of how government and economies interact.
An excerpt from my paper:
Despite China and Russia’s vast similarities under extreme authoritarianism, the variance in their economies suggests that the overarching form of government is not entirely responsible; it is the actions of the authoritarian government, such as decades-long shifts towards capitalism in China or recurring elite capture in Russia—wealthy minorities hijacking public agendas for self-interest—that alter economic trajectory.
04
Products
February-April
After the research paper, Global Studies students create products that highlight new angles of their topic in different ways than the research paper. Options include a piece of artwork, a podcast, a video, a photo essay, a short story, etc.
My first product is a case study on Indonesia, examining how economic contagion during the Asian Financial Crisis led to the downfall of President Suharto's authoritarian regime. In the same ways that a government may dictate a nation's economy, the reverse holds true.