Overview
Bryn Rosenfeld is an Associate Professor of Government at Cornell University and a co-Principal Investigator of the Russian Election Study, supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research. Her research interests include comparative political behavior, with a focus on regime preferences and voter behavior in nondemocratic systems, development and democratization, protest, post-communist politics, and survey methodology.
Her first book, The Autocratic Middle Class (Princeton University Press, 2021), explains how middle-class economic dependence on the state impedes democratization and contributes to authoritarian resilience. It won the 2022 Best Book award from the APSA's Democracy & Autocracy section, the Ed A. Hewett Book Prize for outstanding publication on the political economy of Russia, Eurasia and/or Eastern Europe by the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), and an Honorable Mention for the APSA's William H. Riker award for best book in political economy. She is also the recipient of a Frances Rosenbluth best paper prize, as well as a Best Article Award honorable mention and Juan Linz Prize for Best Dissertation, both by the APSA's Democracy & Autocracy section.
Her articles appear in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, the Annual Review of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, and Sociological Methods & Research, among other outlets.
Prior to joining the faculty at Cornell, she was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Southern California and a Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. She is also a former editor of The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog and has worked for the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Opinion Research, where she designed and analyzed studies of public opinion in the former Soviet Union. She holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Media
Putin Eyes Bigger Piece of Ukraine than Trump Offered, Report Says
Newsweek -- 04/30/2025
Keith Gessen and Bryn Rosenfeld on How We Should Interpret Russian Public Opinion Data (audio)
Center for Strategic & International Studies podcast --
Trump Posture on Ukraine Peace Based on Flawed Assumptions
A&S Communications --
US and Russia Move to Revive Ties as Ukraine is Cut Out
Bloomberg -- 02/18/2025
and 15 other media outlets
The Transformative Power of Anger Under Authoritarian Repression
Stanford -- 12/03/2024
Reality is chipping away at Putinism
The New Statesman -- 04/05/2024
and 2 other media outlets
Putin’s Hidden Weakness
Foreign Affairs -- 03/25/2024
The drama in Russia’s election is all about what Putin will do with another 6 years in power
AP -- 03/14/2024
and 431 other media outlets
Russia’s presidential election is ‘not so important’ as what will come after
A&S Communications -- 03/11/2024
Law and Justice party seeing ‘double rebuke’ from voters
A&S Communications -- 10/18/2023
The Value of Public Opinion Polls
ETH Zurich -- 02/01/2023
What are Russians really thinking about the war?
Washington Post -- 12/29/2022
Professor wins award for book about middle class and democracy
A&S Communications -- 11/18/2022
Russia’s mobilization won’t fix its military problems
Vox -- 09/25/2022
and 8 other media outlets
Biden admin rhetoric strengthens Russian propaganda about U.S.
A&S Communications -- 04/25/2022
Finland wants to decide whether to join NATO within "weeks".
Euronews -- 04/15/2022
and 1 other media outlet
Russia may be about to invade Ukraine. Russians don’t want it to.
Washington Post -- 02/11/2022
The Kremlin has a new toolkit for shutting down independent news media
The Washington Post -- 06/29/2021
Middle Class Support for Autocracies
Democracy Paradox Podcast -- 01/26/2021
Middle class actually enables autocrats in post-Soviet countries
Cornell Chronicle -- 12/07/2020
Putin’s support is weakening. Will that show up in Russia’s regional elections this weekend?
Washington Post -- 09/10/2020
Research Focus
Comparative Politics, Political Behavior, Development and Democratization, Authoritarian Regimes, Protest, Post-communism, Survey Methods
In the news
- Even if a ‘peace’ deal is reached, Russia won’t give up on Ukraine
- Trump posture on Ukraine peace based on flawed assumptions
- Cornell Center for Social Sciences names 14 faculty fellows
- GOVT Prof. Bryn Rosenfeld wins Best Book Award for The Autocratic Middle Class!
- Experts: Ukraine war puts world in ‘uncharted territory’
- Social sciences center awards COVID-19 grants
- First visiting journalist shares world of the NYT with students, faculty
GOVT Courses - Spring 2025
- GOVT 4999 : Undergraduate Independent Study
- GOVT 6594 : Comparative Political Behavior
- GOVT 7999 : Independent Study