Nina Barzachka

Biography

Nina Barzachka’s research explores the topic of institutional change. She is especially interested in the effects that institutions exert on actors and, conversely, in how actors succeed or fail in changing the very same institutional structures that constrain them. Her research agenda consists of three distinct areas of inquiry: party politics and electoral system reform in Western and Eastern Europe; mass protests movements’ capacity to produce tangible change in Eastern Europe; and the politics of Brexit. Prof. Barzachka’s current book project examines why sometimes powerful political parties involved in electoral system reform forgo seat-maximization. The fieldwork for the project was generously funded by the IREX (International Research and Exchanges Board), as well as the Society of Fellows and the Raven Society at the University of Virginia. 

She has published original research articles in Comparative Politics, Europe-Asia Studies, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, and Politics of the Low Countries. She also has multiple contributions to The Monkey Cage blog at The Washington Post. 

Prof. Barzachka’s interest in European politics stems from having lived and/or conducted fieldwork in Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland and France. Her extensive experience in teaching political science in U.S. liberal arts institutions and believe strongly in the benefits of international education. At Holy Cross, she teaches E.U. Politics; European Politics (Comparative Politics of Europe); Political Parties in Europe (Representation & Participation), Introduction to International Relations, and a Montserrat course entitled Democracy at Work (part of a two-semester multi-disciplinary course sequence “Work, Art & Politics.” She serves on the boards of International Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies. 

Selected Publications

Barzachka, Nina S. (2025). “Using Process-Tracing to Evaluate Competing Accounts of Proportional Representation in Belgium,” Politics of the Low Countries, 5(2). Doi: 10.5553/PLC/.000051. (Published online, 2023). 

Barzachka, Nina S. (2024). “The Case of Brexit: How to Open a Critical Juncture without an Exogenous Shock?” British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 26(4), 1299-1321. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481241227834.

Barzachka, Nina S. (2020). “To Resign or Not to Resign: Why Incumbents Ignore Peaceful Mass Protests?” Europe-Asia Studies, 75(5), 763-791. Online at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2020.1741516. 

Barzachka, Nina Simeonova. (2014). “When Winning Seats is Not Everything: Tactical Seat-Loss during Democratization,” Comparative Politics, 46(2), 209-229. Doi: https://doi.org/10.5129/001041514809387351. 

Other Publications

Barzachka, Nina S. and Stefka P. Yordanova. “Bulgaria Has Not Been Able to Form Government. What Happens Next? The Washington Post, The Monkey Cage, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/29/bulgaria-hasnt-been-able-form government-what-happens-now/, April 29, 2021. 

Barzachka, Nina S. and Stefka P. Yordanova. “Why Bulgaria’s Government Has Survived Months of Anti-Corruption Protests,” The Washington Post, The Monkey Cage, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/26/why-bulgarias-government-has survived-months-anti-corruption-protests/, December 17, 2020. 

Barzachka, Nina S. “Austria Now Holds the EU Presidency. Expect a Tougher Stance on Immigration,” The Washington Post, The Monkey Cage, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/08/02/austria-now-holds the-e-u-presidency-expect-a-tougher-stance-on-immigration/?utm_term=.903545f0cb2a , August 2, 2018. 

Barzachka, Nina S. “Analyzing Politics through the Lens of Institutional Change,” Clio: Newsletter of Politics & History, Vol. 26, No. 2, Summer 2017. 

Barzachka, Nina S. “Bulgaria’s Government Will Include Far-Right Nationalist Parties for the First Time,” The Washington Post, The Monkey Cage, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/04/25/bulgarias government-will-include-nationalist-parties-on-the-far-right-heres-why-and-what-this means/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1b4bc0fbcbf2 April 25, 2017. 

Barzachka, Nina S. “Mechanisms of Electoral System Choice: Bulgaria, 1990, 1991, 2009,” International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), research brief, 2009.