Harmonized electoral data and indices for robust comparison across Latin American federal systems.
Subnational Politics, Democracy, Authoritarianism
I am a Professor of Political Science at American University and a Visiting Distinguished Professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey. My research explores why citizens across different territories experience unequal access to political, social, economic, and civil rights—and how these disparities shape democracy and governance. With a regional focus on Latin America, I study the dynamics of subnational and national democratic and semi-authoritarian regimes, the politics of uneven state capacity and public goods provision, and the integrity and accountability of political institutions.
I am the director of the Subnational Politics Project (SPP), a collaborative initiative dedicated to compiling, generating, and disseminating systematic, transparent, and publicly accessible data on subnational political institutions, processes, and electoral outcomes across Latin America. The SPP’s central goal is to build a comprehensive and standardized data infrastructure that enables both detailed within- country analysis and robust cross-national comparisons of subnational political dynamics. By providing consistent and high-quality data, SPP seeks to advance scholarly and policy-oriented research on the political foundations and consequences of territorial inequality in the region.
My work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in The Journal of Politics, Studies in Comparative International Development, Latin American Politics and Society, Latin American Research Review, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Perspectives on Politics, Regional and Federal Studies, Journal of Politics in Latin America, Journal of Democracy (en Español), Bulletin of Latin American Research, and Revista de Ciencia Política (Chile), as well as in Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press.
Books
Inside Countries (2019)
Although comparative politics is traditionally understood as the study of politics across countries, the field has a longstanding—and increasingly influential—tradition of examining politics within countries, focusing on subnational units, institutions, actors, and processes. This book provides the first comprehensive assessment of the substantive, theoretical, and methodological contributions of this subnational turn in comparative politics. Drawing on empirical chapters from across the contemporary Global South—including India, Mexico, China, and Russia—the contributors demonstrate how subnational research offers valuable insights into core themes in political science, from regimes and representation to state capacity, security, and social and economic development.
Subnational Politics Project
The Subnational Politics Project (SPP) provides systematic, transparent, and publicly accessible data on political institutions and electoral outcomes in Latin American countries.
Country Comparability
Longitudinal Depth
Track political evolution with continuous data from the return of democracy to the present.
Consolidated Records
Centralized electoral variables with standardized keys for seamless integration with spatial data.
Research
Articles
Chapters
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UPROOT Podcast
UPROOT is a space for stories of movement, belonging, and reinvention. In each conversation, I speak with people who have left their home countries and started anew in the United States. They are women and men whose lives unfold between languages, traditions, and ways of seeing the world. Together, we talk about what it means to feel uprooted—and to grow new roots. We explore the challenges they have faced and the opportunities they have embraced as they navigate life and work across cultures. And we reflect on how these journeys have transformed their understanding of both the United States and the places they once called home.
In The Media
Interviews
Lectures
Essays
Podcasts
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Contact
Designed by Camilo Calvo-Alcaniz / Rethinked by Felipe Soto Jorquera