Honorata Mazepus is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs of Leiden University. She has been awarded the Leiden University Fund Snouck Hurgronje Grant 2020 for an interdisciplinary project 'Keeping the powerful in check: from small communities to large states'. This project investigates under what conditions (democratic) checks and balances can effectively restrain the power of political leaders. It combines expertise and methods from anthropology, psychology, history, and political science. Honorata Mazepus holds an MA degree in International Relations (Eastern/Russian Studies) from Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan, an MSc degree in Social Science Research Methods (Politics) from the University of Bristol and a PhD from Leiden University (2016). She has worked as a post-doctoral researcher on the Horizon 2020 EU-STRAT project.