The Social Science Research Council’s Democratic Anxieties in the Americas Research Grants respond to growing public concern about the efficacy of democratic institutions in the Americas in the face of rising inequality, the spread of populism, political polarization, distrust, and the spread of disinformation. Sponsored by the Drugs, Security and Democracy and Anxieties of Democracy programs and with the support of the Open Society Foundations, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Mark and Anla Cheng Kingdon Foundation, the grants fund research projects with the potential to generate a comparative dialogue on the sources of and solutions to democratic anxieties in the Americas.

The awarded projects touch on themes such as the politics of representation, from understanding voter participation in Colombia’s specialized ethnic congressional districts to the historical evolution of the Congressional Black Caucus in the United States. Others examine corruption, from the political biases of independent courts in Brazil to political intervention in Argentina’s judicial corruption probes. Collectively, these projects will offer new insights into the challenges and opportunities facing democracies, in the region and across the globe.

The following are recipients of the Democratic Anxieties in the Americas Research Grants:

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