Dr. Valkov explored the relationship between associational life and democracy in post-Communist Europe. His doctoral dissertation was published in the form of articles and his findings were presented as papers at the annual meetings of APSA, ISA, and ASEEES. He received a post-doctoral grant from the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture to continue the study of civil society in communist countries at Yale and Harvard. He also contributes to the Project on Cold War Studies.