Karrie J. Koesel is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon, where she specializes in the study of contemporary Chinese and Russian politics, authoritarianism, and religion and politics. Her work has appeared in Perspectives on Politics, The China Quarterly and Post-Soviet Affairs. Koesel's research has been supported by grants from The John Templeton Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Fulbright program, the International Research and Exchanges Board, the Einaudi Center and East Asia Program at Cornell University, and the University of Oregon. In