Bio

Diana is a political scientist currently based at the liberal-arts program of Leiden University in the Netherlands. Her work focuses on institutional design and the way in which the political or social rules that shape human incentives and behavior also impact a whole range of outcomes from political corruption to immigration or rule of law. Her fascination with the political world goes back to her growing up in Romania in the 1990s and experiencing first-hand the impact of the democratic transition on the lives of ordinary people.

In addition to her enthusiasm about political institutions, Diana also finds great joy in teaching university students. She is always happy to exchange ideas on teaching methods and innovation or to experiment with different ways to communicate knowledge.

Project

During my stay at Faber, I would like to focus on a newly started project related to rule of law, parties and legislatures in Central and Eastern Europe. More specifically, I will be focusing on the role of certain institutional factors (both formal and informal) in shaping the demands for self-determination among the ethnically Hungarian minority in Romania during the post-communist transition to democracy.  This includes a focus on the representation of these demands through the political institutional framework and the relevant political parties.