Beatrice Monciunskaite is a PhD student in the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University. Her PhD research is funded by the Irish Research Council and investigates the status of liberal constitutional democracy in Lithuania and Latvia in light of the current democratic crisis in Europe. This research will analyse how successful democratisation has been in these two countries to ascertain a more comprehensive picture of the health of democracy in the Central and Eastern European region. This research is hoped to inform better responses to the rule of law crisis in the European Union. As a Fulbright awardee at New York University School of Law, she will continue to conduct research on the causes of democratic and rule of law deficiencies.