Curriculum vitae
You can find an up-to-date PDF version of my CV here (opens in a new tab).
My research sits at the intersection of bureaucratic autonomy, institutional backsliding, and the politics of enforcement. In particular, my dissertation argues that policy-motivated bureaucrats can slow the erosion of the rule of law, as well as improve societal outcomes. Additionally, I have ongoing interests in causal inference, individual-level adaptation to climate change, and the broader field of environmental politics.
Education
2021 – present
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Doctoral program in Political Science
Comparative Politics and Political Economy workshop chair (2023 – present)
Editorial assistant for the American Journal of Political Science (2025 – 2026)
Graduate Student Council president (2023 – 2024)
Graduate Student Work-in-Progress workshop chair (2022 – 2023)
Spring 2020
New York University (NYU)
International exchange program
16 credits in the Department of Politics
2016 – 2020
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC-Chile)
BA in Political Science (Título profesional, five-year degree)
Graduated 1\(^{st}\) out of an incoming cohort of 59, maximum distinction
Academic research
Working papers
2026
“Zealots unbound: the bureaucratic microfoundations of the rule of law.” Job market paper, available here.
“Forbearance forgone: the electoral cost of enforcing the law.” Under review, available here.
“Swimming in the flood: ideology and individual-level climate adaptation.” With Preston Johnston. Available upon request.
“Seeing with blind eyes: scope and limits of politicized enforcement.” Available upon request.
Publications
Forthcoming
“Bureaucratic capacity.” With Mai Hassan. Book chapter for the Oxford Handbook of State Building and State Capacity, edited by Mark Dincecco and Yuhua Wang. Under contract with Oxford University Press; expected early 2028.
2023
“Two paths towards the exceptional extension of national voting rights to non-citizen residents.” With David Altman and Sergio Huertas-Hernández. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49(10), pp. 2541–2560.
2021
“Citizens at the polls: direct democracy in the world, 2020.” With David Altman. Taiwan Journal of Democracy, 17(2), pp. 85–106.
Fellowships and grants
2021 – present
Luksic Fellowship, Luksic Scholars Foundation
MIT CIS Graduate Student Working Group Grants (US$5,500 over four cycles)
2024 – 2025
MIT Center for International Studies Summer Fellowship (US$5,000)
MIT Governance Lab Seed Grant (US$5,000)
Adam Smith Fellowship, George Mason University (US$4,000)
2024
MIT MISTI support for field research (US$7,000)
Selected conference presentations
- American Political Science Association (APSA): 2024, 2025, 2026
- Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA): 2024, 2025, 2026
- Pre-APSA Latin American Politics Workshop (LATAM): 2026
- Political Economy of Climate and Environment (PECE): 2026
- Columbia Climate Pipeline Conference (Pipeline): 2026
- Northeast Workshop in Empirical Political Science (NEWEPS): 2026
- Red para el Estudio de la Economía Política de América Latina (REPAL): 2025, 2026
- Public Sector Organizational Effectiveness Workshop (PSOE): 2025
- Annual Brown-MIT Doctoral Workshop in International Development (Brown-MIT): 2023
Teaching experience and training
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
2026
MIT Teaching Certificate (Teaching + Learning Lab)
Participated in teaching twelve workshops over the course of three semesters
2024
17.802 - Quantitative Research II: Causal Inference (F. Daniel Hidalgo)
Teaching assistant for PhD-level course; student evaluations: 6.8 out of 7.0
2023
17.801 - Political Science Scope and Methods (Fotini Christia)
Teaching assistant for undergraduate course; student evaluations: 6.9 out of 7.0
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC-Chile)
Teaching assistant for undergraduate courses:
2019
ICP0101 - Introduction to Political Science (Carla Alberti)
ICP0114 - Indigenous Politics In Latin America (Carla Alberti)
ICP0147 - Political Processes in Latin America (Valeria Palanza)
2018
ICP0101 - Introduction to Political Science (Carla Alberti)
ICP0103 - Introduction to Comparative Politics (Julieta Suárez)
ICP0505 - Qualitative Research Methods in Political Science (Julieta Suárez)
ICP0601 - Writing in Political Science (Maria de la Calle)
2017
ICP0601 - Writing in Political Science (Maria de la Calle)
Relevant work experience
Amazon Institute of People and the Environment (Imazon)
2024
Non-profit scientific institution whose mission is to promote conservation and sustainable development in the Amazon. Location: Belém do Pará, Brazil. Role: visiting researcher. Supervisor: Carlos Souza Jr.
Chilean National Agency for Research and Development (ANID)
2021
FONDECYT grant. Fiscal Origins of Democracy: How Different Sources of Income Affect Democratization. Role: researcher. Supervisor: Diego Díaz.
2020
FONDECYT grant. The impact of migratory waves and the extension of suffrage in contemporary democracies. Role: researcher. Supervisor: David Altman.
FONDECYT grant. Becoming parties: indigenous social movements and party politics in Latin America. Role: researcher. Supervisor: Carla Alberti.
FONDECYT grant. The paradoxical adoption of citizen-initiated mechanisms of direct democracy. Role: researcher. Supervisor: David Altman.
Millennium Institute For Foundational Research on Data (IMFD)
2021
Millennium Science Initiative grant. Data for the study of highly complex social problems. Role: researcher. Supervisor: Juan Pablo Luna.
References
F. Daniel Hidalgo
Associate Professor of Political Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
30 Wadsworth Street E53-402
Cambridge, MA 02142
[email protected]
Mai Hassan
Associate Professor of Political Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
30 Wadsworth Street E53-487
Cambridge, MA 02142
[email protected]
Noah Nathan
Ford International Professor of Political Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
30 Wadsworth Street E53-421
Cambridge, MA 02142
[email protected]
Fotini Christia
Director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Ford International Professor of Political Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mass Ave. E18-309C
Cambridge, MA 02139
[email protected]
Miscellaneous
- Languages: Spanish (native), English (fluent), Portuguese (advanced)
- Programming: R, Python, Qualtrics, Stata
- Hobbies and interests: Bird and portrait photography, hiking, theater, cinema, travel