Ivan Fomichev

I am a PhD candidate at the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute. I was a visiting assistant in research at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University in Fall 2022. Currently, I lead the Research Analytics Unit at the EUI, mentoring PhD researchers in statistical programming (R and Python), empirical research design, and data analysis.

I research political behavior and attitudes in authoritarian regimes, with my dissertation focusing on how political information—such as signals of regime electoral vulnerability, public dissent, and war fatalities—shapes citizens' political responses.

I hold a BS in Political Science from Saint Petersburg State University and an MS in Political Science from the European University at Saint Petersburg, both with honors.

Working Papers

Ivan Fomichev. Strategic Voting, Image of Invincibility, and Partisanship: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Russia .

The paper examines what drives strategic voting in authoritarian elections, using the case of Russia’s Smart Voting campaign. This study relies on a unique lab-in-the-field survey experiment conducted in Saint Petersburg in the run up to the 2021 State Duma election. I find that partisan distance between voters and candidates strongly affects willingness to vote strategically. In contrast, challenging the perception of the regime’s invincibility had no measurable impact.

Ivan Fomichev. The Effect of Spatial Proximity to Protests on Voting in Russia .

The paper studies how local protests affect electoral outcomes in authoritarian regimes, focusing on Russia between 2016 and 2021. Using data from anti-corruption and pension reform protests, I show that proximity to protests reduced both voter turnout and ruling party support, especially in strongholds of United Russia. However, protest proximity did not significantly boost opposition vote share.

Ivan Fomichev & Vladimir Zabolotsky. War Propaganda, Regime Support, and Russian Casualties in Ukraine .

How do military losses affect citizens’ attitudes toward political authorities and broader patriotic sentiment in autocratic regimes? The study explores the political impact of reported war fatalities in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Analyzing over 20 million social media posts from geo-referenced local groups, we find that reports of soldiers killed in action lead to a sustained decline in engagement with content featuring authorities. At the same time, engagement with patriotic and military topics rises temporarily.

Teaching

Mathematics for Social and Political Scientists, Department of Social and Political Sciences, EUI, 2024.
10-hour workshop for first-year PhD students covering derivatives, integrals, vectors, and matrices, and their application in statistics and game theory.

Contact

Email: ivan.fomichev@eui.eu
Phone: [+39] 351 301 6162
EUI Address: Via dei Roccettini 9, San Domenico di Fiesole (FI), Italy