Elizabeth Plantan
Associate Professor of Political Science
Elizabeth Plantan's research and teaching interests encompass the global study of civil society, authoritarian regimes, and environmental politics, with a focus on the comparative and international politics of China and Russia.
- PhD, Government, Cornell University
- MA, Russian & East European Studies, Indiana University - Bloomington
- BA, Wesleyan University
Biography
Elizabeth Plantan is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Stetson University and a 2026-2027 Good Authority Fellow. Previously, she was a 2023-2025 Public Intellectuals Program (PIP) Fellow with the National Committee on U.S.- China Relations, a 2022-2023 Wilson China Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, and a 2018-2020 China Public Policy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is also a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and a member of PONARS Eurasia.
Her academic research is published or forthcoming in The Journal of Politics, International Affairs, Comparative Politics, Studies in Comparative International Development, The China Journal, Post-Soviet Affairs, Problems of PostCommunism, and Russian Politics, among other venues. Plantan has also authored op-eds and public-facing scholarship in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Good Authority, Russian Analytical Digest, ChinaFile, and elsewhere.
More About Elizabeth Plantan
Areas of Expertise
- Comparative Politics
- Authoritarianism
- Environmental Activism
- Russian & Chinese Politics
- Civil Society & NGOs
Course Sampling
- Introduction to Comparative Politics
- Russian Politics
- Chinese Politics
- Environmental Politics
- State-society relations in authoritarian regimes
- Russian & Chinese domestic and international politics
- Environmental activism
- The politics of I/NGOs
- Transnational advocacy networks
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
- Plantan, Elizabeth. 2026. “Rupture or Transformation?: Transnational Environmental Activism and International Support in Russia after the 2022 Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine.” Problems of Post-Communism 0(0): 1-14.
- Leng, Ning and Elizabeth Plantan. 2025. “Disappearing Research: Academic Control and Self-Censorship in China.” The China Journal 94(1): 107-133.
- Plantan, Elizabeth, Wendy Leutert, and Austin Strange. 2025. “Pivoting to Overseas Development: International NGOs' Changing Engagement with China.” International Affairs 101(2): 543-564. ?
- Strange, Austin, Elizabeth Plantan, and Wendy Leutert. 2024. Complementary Partners? Attitudes toward Multi-Actor Development Projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Journal of Politics 86(4): 1446-1461.
- Leutert, Wendy, Elizabeth Plantan, and Austin Strange. 2023. Puzzling Partnerships: Overseas Infrastructure Development by Chinese State-Owned Enterprises and Humanitarian Organizations. Studies in Comparative International Development 58: 195-223.
- Henry, Laura and Elizabeth Plantan. 2022. Activism in Exile: How Russian Environmentalists Maintain Voice after Exit. Post-Soviet Affairs 38(4): 274-292.
- Plantan, Elizabeth. 2022. Not All NGOs are Treated Equally: Selectivity in Civil Society Management in China and Russia, Comparative Politics 5 4(3): 501-524.
- Plantan, Elizabeth. 2018. Mass Mobilization in China and Russia: From Unexpected Victories to Unintended Consequences, Russian Politics 3(4): 513-547.
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters
- Evans, Alfred B. and Elizabeth Plantan. 2022. Civil Society and Social Movements. In Darrell Slider, ed., Putin's Russia, 8th Edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Plantan, Elizabeth. 2020. A Tale of Two Laws: Managing Foreign Agents and Overseas NGOs in Russia and China. In Karrie J. Koesel, Valerie J. Bunce, and Jessica C. Weiss, eds., Citizens and the State in Authoritarian Regimes: Comparing China and Russia. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
- Plantan, Elizabeth. 2015. Protecting Cultural Heritage: Unexpected Successes for Environmental Movements in China and Russia. In Carol Hager and Mary Alice Haddad, eds., NIMBY is Beautiful: Cases of Local Activism and Environmental Innovation Around the World. New York, NY: Berghahn Books.
For an up-to-date list of publications, including op-eds and public scholarship, please visit Professor Plantan's Website