I study authoritarian regimes, democratization, and political parties, with a focus on Latin America. Much of my work examines “authoritarian vestiges,” or remnants of former dictatorships that persist after a transition to democracy.
My most recent book, Authoritarianism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2024), provides a comprehensive overview of the world of authoritarian regimes, including military, single-party, and personalist regimes. Drawing on examples from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, the book examines the "life cycle" of authoritarian regimes: birth, life, and death. It asks why some authoritarian regimes are more durable than others, and considers the many legacies of authoritarianism in new democracies.
My monograph Conservative Party-Building in Latin America: Authoritarian Inheritance and Counterrevolutionary Struggle (Oxford University Press, 2021) examines the surprising contribution of “authoritarian inheritance” to the success of new conservative parties in Latin America since the third wave of democratization. The book was awarded the Canadian Political Science Association’s 2022 Prize in Comparative Politics.
My co-edited book Life after Dictatorship: Authoritarian Successor Parties Worldwide (Cambridge University Press, 2018) launches a new research agenda on “authoritarian successor parties,” or parties that emerge from authoritarian regimes but that operate after a transition to democracy.
My co-edited book Challenges of Party-Building in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2016) examines how extraordinary conflict has enabled a handful of new parties to beat the odds and succeed at a time of widespread party breakdown.
I have published in a variety of academic and popular outlets, including the Journal of Democracy, Democratization, Foreign Policy, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.
