Automating Protest Event Analysis Using Digital Media in Contentious Politics addresses one of the most critical challenges in the field: the need for more efficient, reliable, and scalable data collection. Using Russia as a primary case study, author Bogdan Mamaev explores how Large Language Models (LLMs) and digital media are reshaping the methodology of protest event analysis (PEA).Investigating the transformative impact of Generative AI on data access and efficiency, M...

This Element examines the evolution of authoritarianism in Russia from 2011 to 2023, focusing on its impact on contentious action. It argues that the primary determinant of contention, at both federal and regional levels, is authoritarian innovation characterized by reactive and proactive repression. Drawing on Russian legislation, reports from human rights organizations, media coverage, and a novel dataset of contentious events created from user-generated reports on Twitter using computat...