Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg
Germany
fellow
Sarah W. Sokhey
2026-2027
Home institution
University of Colorado Boulder
Country of origin (home institution)
United States
Discipline(s)
Social Sciences
Theme(s)
Other
Fellowship dates
›
Biography
Sarah Wilson Sokhey an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Colorado (Boulder), a Faculty Associate at the Institute of Behavioral Science, and the founding Director of the Studio Lab for Undergrads. She writes about political economy issues in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Since 2023, she has co-organized a speaker series featuring Ukrainians and their work in civil society. Her research explains how local governments in Ukraine have continued to provide public services during wartime in ways that promote democratic accountability and rebuilding.
Research Project
Governing Under Crisis: Local Politics and Public Goods Provision in Ukraine, 2014 to the Present
How and why do local governments in Ukraine—endowed with increasingly significant fiscal and policy powers since 2014—provide vital public goods and services to citizens? And how does public goods provision in turn influence local politics? These overarching questions are the focus of my research and address the critical issue of public goods provision and resource allocation during a period of scarcity and uncertainty. Local level efforts are vital for the resilience and rebuilding of Ukraine, a country still at war, and offers valuable lessons for other conflict areas. I take a multi-method approach and draw on a wide variety of data including original survey questions, in depth interviews, case studies, and analysis of observational local level data to understand how local communities governed during war.
Research Interests:
Central and Eastern Europe; Ukraine; political economy; social policy; welfare state; economic development; state-business relations; public opinion; bureaucratic politics