Tuesday Seminar on Latin American Politics

Panel: Brazil Election Speakers David J. Samuels, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Minnesota. Fernando Bizarro, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Boston College. Fernando...

Abortion Politics and Democratic Backsliding: Lessons from Latin America Abortion is a polarizing political issue across the American continent, yet US-focused scholars seldom interrogate the consequences of abortion politics for democratic institutions...

Escolas de Samba and Electoral Behavior under Brazil's Military Dictatorship Participation in Rio de Janeiro's escolas de samba was a powerful form of collective action that Brazil's military dictatorship (1964–1985) paradoxically tolerated and even...

Betting on Hope: What We Got Wrong About the U.S. Border Crisis This presentation uses migrant stories and decision-making theory to explain why U.S. “prevention through deterrence” policies have raised the human and financial costs of migration without...

Political Violence as a Vocation: How Politicians Shape Citizens’ Demand for Police Repression Police violence against marginalized groups persists in many democracies. Yet, democratically-elected leaders may lack incentives to curb it because repressive...

Panel: Anti-Incumbent or Pro-Right? Colombia's 2026 Election and the Road Ahead Colombia elected a new right-wing president, Abelardo de la Espriella, by a razor-thin margin in the June 2026 runoff. De la Espriella ran as an outsider against the political...

Peru’s 2026 Elections Speakers Alberto Vergara, Political Scientist; Professor, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Universidad del Pacífico, Peru. Rodrigo Barrenechea, PhD in Political Science, Northwestern University. Paula Munoz, Full...

Democratic Backsliding in Mexico Speaker Luis Carlos Ugalde, Fellow, Weatherhead Scholars Program. Director General, Integralia Consultores. Moderators Steven Levitsky, Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar. David Rockefeller Professor of...

How Brazil Decarbonized the Amazon Rainforest Speaker Livio Silvo-Muller, Academy Scholar, The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies; Affiliate, Weatherhead Research Cluster on Comparative Inequality and Inclusion. Moderators Steven Levitsky...

Territorial Conflict, State Capacity and War in South America Speaker Nicole Jenne, Associate Professor, Institute of Political Science, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; 2026 Cisneros Visiting Scholar, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American...