Valerie Bunce (Ph.D, University of Michigan) is the Aaron Binenkorb Professor of International Studies and Professor of Government.

Her primary field is comparative politics and, secondarily, international relations. Her research and teaching address comparative democratization, international democracy promotion (primarily by the U.S.); and inter-ethnic cooperation and conflict.

Her geographical focus is primarily east-central Europe, the Balkans and the Soviet successor states, though her comparative interests extend to Latin America.

She is the author, most recently, of Subversive Institutions: The Design and the Collapse of Socialism and the State (Cambridge University Press, 1999), and her articles have appeared, for example, in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Politics and Society and International Organization, together with a variety of area-based journals and edited volumes.

She is currently co-authoring a book with Sharon Wolchik (George Washington University) , tentatively entitled: American Democracy Promotion and Electoral Change in Postcommunist Europe and Eurasia.

Curriculum Vitae

Courses Taught:

Undergraduate Courses:
Govt 325: Postcommunist Politics
Govt 226: Sophomore Seminar on Empires

Graduate Courses:
Govt 657: Comparative Democratization
Govt 698: Nation, State and Ethnic Conflict