Otto Kienitz

Otto Kienitz is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on democracy/autocracy dynamics, state-building, and historical political economy, with expertise in Russian politics. He holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. from the European University at St. Petersburg, and an M.A. from UC Berkeley.

Education:

• PhD Candidate, Political Science, UC Berkeley (May 2024)
• M.A., Political Science, UC Berkeley (2017–2019)
• M.A., Russian and Eurasian Studies, European University at St. Petersburg (2016–2017)
• B.A., History, University of Pennsylvania (2012–2016)

Research Interests: Democracy & autocracy, state capacity, local taxation, historical political economy of empires (Russian, Ottoman, Qing), electoral authoritarianism, and Russian local politics.

Teaching & Engagement: Extensive teaching experience as Head GSI/Instructor of Record for courses on Russian politics, comparative politics, and quantitative methods. Co-founder of the Berkeley Historical Social Science Workshop (HSSW), promoting mixed-methods historical political economy research.

Languages: Graduate-level Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian (conversational).

Personal: Family of musicians/educators; grandfather Richard C. Kienitz won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (1967). Enjoys historical research, sailing, and Magic: The Gathering.