Current Institutional Affiliation
Professor, Political Science, University of Colorado / Boulder

Award Information

International Dissertation Research Fellowship 1998
Institutional Affiliation (at time of award):
Political Science, University of Wisconsin / Madison
Economic Reform and Voting Behaviour in Latin America

Neoliberal presidential candidates in Latin America continue to enjoy success at the polls on election day despite the apparent toll that such policies have taken on the region's poor and working classes. Why is this occurring? Why do neoliberal programs continue to receive support in public opinion polls? What are these new neoliberal voting coalitions, why do they so often constitute a majority, and why have they formed? While existing theories of voting behavior are useful, they suffer a lack of rigorous empirical evidence and are limited in explaining much of the variation both cross-nationally and sub-nationally. My focus will be on identifying which theories work for different societal groups. To answer these research questions, I propose studying the Brazilian and Mexican cases using survey research, in-depth interviews and experiments.

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