Dr Oleksiy Bondarenko PhD

Dr Oleksiy Bondarenko

International Development Department
Teaching Fellow in Public Economic Management

Contact details

Email
o.bondarenko@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
School of Government
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Oleksiy is a Teaching Fellow in Public Economic Management. He joined the International Development Department in 2024, having previously taught at City, University of London, University of Warwick, University College London (UCL) and University of Kent, where he completed his PhD in 2022. 

His main research interests include informal institutions, elite networks, federalism, decentralization, and party politics in authoritarian regimes and in the context of democratization. Most of his work has focused on Eastern Europe, particularly Russia and Ukraine. 

Oleksiy’s research combines statistical research methods with qualitative and field research.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Comparative Politics, University of Kent, 2022
  • MA in Politics International Relations, University of Bologna, 2013
  • BA in History, University of Perugia, 2010

Biography

Oleksiy joined IDD in 2024 as a Teaching Fellow in Public Economic Management. Prior to this, he was a Lecturer in International Political Economy at City, University of London and a Teaching Fellow in Politics and Quantitative Methods at the University of Warwick. 

Oleksiy’s research investigates the impact of (formal and informal) federal institutions and decentralization on party politics, elite networks and neo-patrimonial politics in authoritarian regimes and in the context of democratization.    

He is currently working on his first monograph, provisionally titled: Federal Bargaining in Russia and the Impact of Informal Institutions. The book is partially based on his PhD dissertation. 

Oleksiy’s new project focuses on formal and informal incentives provided by the process of decentralization in Ukraine and its impact on local and regional political elites and patronal networks, before and after the full-scale Russian invasion. 

His research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Russian Politics and others.

Teaching

Oleksiy convenes of jointly convenes:

  • Public Economic Management (PG)
  • Economics Perspective on Development (UG)
  • Making Policy (PG)
  • Public Sector Reform (PG)

Research

Research interests 

  • Multilevel governance (federalism and decentralization)
  • The political economy of regional elites
  • Informal Institutions
  • Party politics and party systema in authoritarian and hybrid regimes
  • Authoritarian politics
  • Democratization

Current projects 

  • Federal Bargaining and Informal Institutions in Russia: from Covid to War
  • Failure or success? The political economy of decentralization in Ukraine

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Bondarenko, O 2025, 'Failure or success? Regime fragmentation in the context of decentralization reform in Ukraine', Democratization. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2025.2511760

Bondarenko, O 2024, 'Center-Region Relations and Neo-Patrimonial Governance in Russia: A Tale of Two Regions', Russian Politics, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 315–341. https://doi.org/10.30965/24518921-00903001

Bondarenko, O 2023, 'Between loyalty and opposition: The communist party of Russia and the growing intra-party cleavage', Communist and Post-Communist Studies, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 143–165. https://doi.org/10.1525/cpcs.2023.1996780

Bondarenko, O 2016, '‘Russkij Mir’, Between Diaspora and Public Diplomacy. Russia's Foothold in Central Asia.', Il Politico, vol. 81, no. 3, pp. 87-106. <https://www.jstor.org/stable/45426839?seq=19>

Chapter

Bondarenko, O 2025, Oligarchi, poteri locali e clan. Come la guerra ha trasformato il potere in Ucraina. in SA Bellezza, O Bondarenko, M Puleri & M Zola (eds), La Guerra d’indipendenza ucraina. Come il conflitto ha cambiato il Paese (2014-2024). Editrice Morcelliana, pp. 63-86. <https://www.morcelliana.net/collane-schole/orso-blu/la-guerra-d-indipendenza-ucraina-9788828407065.html>

Bondarenko, O, Bellezza, SA, Puleri, M & Zola, M 2025, Un conflitto (g)locale di lungo periodo. in SA Bellezza, O Bondarenko, M Puleri & M Zola (eds), La Guerra d’indipendenza ucraina. Come il conflitto ha cambiato il Paese (2014-2024). Editrice Morcelliana, pp. 5-12. <https://www.morcelliana.net/collane-schole/orso-blu/la-guerra-d-indipendenza-ucraina-9788828407065.html>

View all publications in research portal