Doctoral Dissertations

The main product of the program is the doctoral dissertation. All doctoral dissertations submitted to the Doctoral School must make a significant and original contribution to the knowledge and understanding of their subject.

Dissertations are submitted to the School after a maximum of six years, and are defended in front of a Dissertation Committee, during a public doctoral defense. 

After the defense, the doctoral dissertation becomes available at the CEU library. You can browse, read and download them here: Central European University Library (ceu.edu).

Below you'll find recent ones and ones that will be defended soon.

2023

Pathways to Stringent Carbon Pricing: Configurations of Political Economy Conditions and Revenue Recycling Strategies

by Daniel Muth

Defense Committee:

Florian Weiler (supervisor, CEU)
Evelyne Hübscher (CEU)
Paula Mónica Castro Pareja (external voting member, Zurich University of Applied Sciences)
Carsten Schneider (chair, CEU) 

Date of the Defense: March 14, 2024

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The Value of Personal Autonomy

by Perica Jovchevski

Defense Committee:  

Andres Moles (supervisor, CEU)
Janos Kis (CEU) 
John Christman (external member, Pennsylvania State University) 
Zoltan Miklosi (chair, CEU) 

Date of the Defense: November 14, 2023

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Politics and Political Economy of Elite Defections: Exploring the Sources and Effects of Elite Defections in Autocracies

by Azad Garibov

Defense Committee: 

Inna Melnykovska (supervisor, CEU) 
Laszlo Bruszt (CEU)
Kristin Makszin (external member, Leiden University) 
Alexander Astrov (chair, CEU)

Date of the Defense: September, 2023

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Re-Conceptualizing A Global Challenger: Russia In The International System

by Jacqueline Dufalla

Defense Committee

Alexander Astrov (supervisor)
Michael Merlingen (CEU)
Petr Kratochvil (external member, Institute of International Relations, Prague) 
Thomas Fetzer (chair, CEU)

Date of the Defense: September 7, 2023

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The Sovereignty Conundrum: Between Territory and Authority in Contemporary Global Politics

by Andras Radnoti

Defense Committee: 

Janos Kis (supervisor, CEU) 
Zoltan Miklosi (CEU)
Peter Wilson (external member, LSE) 
Alex Astrov (chair, CEU)

Date of the Defense: September 5, 2023

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The Political Economy of Transfers, Public Opinion and Policy Preferences

by Krisztina Szabó
Defense Committee: 

Caitlin Brown (supervisor, University of Manchester) 
Cristina Corduneanu-Huci (CEU) 
Damien Bol (external member, King's College) 
Michael Dorsch (chair, CEU)

Date of the Defense: May 30, 2023

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Beyond The Rent-seeking: The Political Economy of the European Agricultural Policy (Non)Reform in the Twenty-First Century

By Ardi Priks

Defense Committee:

Laszlo Csaba (supervisor, CEU)
Thomas Fetzer (CEU)
Marko Lovec (external member, University of Ljubljana)

Michael Merlingen (chair, CEU) 

Date of the Defense: May 24, 2023

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Democracy under threat: Understanding mass appeal for undemocratic parties and practices

By Nemanja Stankov

Defense Committee: 

Levente Littvay (supervisor, CEU) 
Robert Sata (CEU) 
Bojan Todosijevic (external member, Institute of Social Sciences, Belgrade) 
Erin K. Jenne (chair, CEU)

Date of the Defense: May 3, 2023

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Patterns of Corruption - A Study of Sub-National Units in Romania

By Andrei Cosmin Macsut

Defense Committee: 

Zsolt Enyedi (supervisor, CEU)
Cristina Corduneanu-Huci (CEU)
Clara Volintiru (external member, Bucharest University of Economic Studies )
Erin Jenne (chair, CEU)

Date of the Defense: April 19, 2023

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The Receptiveness of Political Parties towards Women: Understanding the Impact of Candidate Selection Procedures

By Burtejin Zorigt

Defense Committee: 

Gabor Toka (supervisor, CEU) – voting member
Eva Fodor (CEU) – voting member
Ekaterina Rashkova-Gerbrands (external member, Utrecht University) – voting member
Eszter Kovats (chair, Democracy Institute) – non-voting member

Date of the Defense: March 8, 2023

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Far-Right Demobilisation: Patterns and processes from demonstration campaigns in Germany, England, and Austria

By Michael C. Zeller

Defense Committee:

András Bozóki (supervisor, CEU) – voting member
Carsten Schneider (CEU) – voting member
Swen Hutter (external member, Freie Universität Berlin and Center for Civil Society Research WZB Berlin Social Science Center) – voting member
Dorit Geva (chair, CEU) – non-voting member

Date of the Defense: February 24, 2023

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Post-Neoliberalism and the Politics of Capital Mobility

By Pedro Perfeito Da Silva

Defense Committee: 

Evelyne Huebscher (supervisor, CEU) – voting member
Cristina Corduneanu-Huci (CEU) – voting member
Cornel Ban (external member, Copenhagen Business School) – voting member
Anil Duman (chair) – non-voting member

Date of the Defense: February 17, 2023

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Your Assembly is Abolished: Civil-Military Relations and Public Policies in Putin's Russia

By Kirill Shamiev

Defense Committee: 

Christopher LaRoche (supervisor, CEU) 
Cristina Corduneanu-Huci (CEU) 
Risa Brooks (external member, Marquette University) 
Carsten Schneider (chair) 

Date of the Defense: January 13, 2023


You can see the information on dissertations defended in previous years by clicking in the years below:

2022 / 2021 / 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016 / 2015 / 2014 / 2013 / 2012 / 2011 / 2010 / 2009

These dissertations are availabe at CEU's Electronic Theses & Dissertations site, where you can search the catalogue using keywords.

Dissertations submitted before 2009 can be accessed in hard copy in the CEU Library.