Thirty Years of Democracy in Brazil: A Research Workshop

In spring 2015, Brazil celebrates the 30th anniversary of its most recent transition to democracy. Since its return to democratic rule after 21 years of dictatorship, the country has made remarkable progress towards consolidating its democratic institutions and promoting human development and social inclusion.
This workshop will celebrate the advances made in Brazil—and discuss current challenges to further progress—by gathering together members of an emerging network of young Brazilian scholars studying in the US to reflect and debate with one another and with seven leading experts on Brazil.
Key questions for discussion include:
- How well do the country’s political institutions represent citizens?
- To what extent do Brazil’s party system and Congress ensure governability?
- Do corruption and clientelism currently undermine democratic representation?
- How effective are Brazil’s social policies, and what are their limitations?
- What challenges lie ahead for Brazil?
Building on the Kellogg Institute’s long tradition of committed scholarship on topics of Brazilian democracy, the workshop will be an opportunity to enhance intellectual connections with Brazilian institutions and academics, including the next generation of researchers.

Scott Mainwaring
Scott Mainwaring is the Eugene P. and Helen Conley Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. He is also a faculty fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, where he previously served as director for 13 years and an Advisory Board member from 2017-2023. He has been a Kellogg Institute faculty fellow since 1983...
Ann Mische
Ann Mische is Associate Professor of Sociology and Peace Studies. Her work focuses on processes of communication, deliberation and leadership in social movements and democratic politics...
David Samuels
David Samuels, Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, includes among his research and teaching interests Brazilian and Latin American politics, US–Latin American relations, and democratization...
Eduardo Viola
Profile updated 2022 Eduardo Viola is senior research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Sao Paulo, and professor of international relations at the School of International Relations, Getulio Vargas Foundation (Sao Paulo). He retired from the University of Brasilia in 2018 after 39 years (27 years as full professor) and is now an emeritus professor...
Fernando Bizzarro Neto
This profile was current as of 2016, when he was part of the on-campus Kellogg community. I am a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. I first came to the Kellogg Institute as a Guest Scholar after receiving a grant from the Sao Paulo Research Foundation, Brazil, in the fall of 2012...
Stefanie Israel de Souza
This profile was current as of 2019, when she was part of the on-campus Kellogg community. I am a proud native of Oregon, though in recent years I have lived in Mexico, Brazil, and Philadelphia, before moving to South Bend. I received my M.T.S. in Biblical Studies from Palmer Theological Seminary in 2011 and my B.A...
Nara Pavão
This profile was current as of 2015, when she was part of the on-campus Kellogg community. A former PhD candidate in Political Science/Comparative Politics at the University of Notre Dame, currently writing my dissertation: "When Democratic Accountability Fails and Corruption Thrives." I earned an MA in political science from the University of São Paulo and a BA from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil...
Maggie Shum
Maggie Shum, a former Kellogg doctoral affiliate, is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science at Penn State Erie. She received her PhD in political science at Notre Dame, specializing in comparative politics with a regional focus in Latin America, Brazil, and Hong Kong...
José Antonio Cheibub
José Antonio Cheibub is professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he is affiliated with the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Center for Global Studies...
Andréa Freitas
Andréa Freitas, professor of political science at Campinas University, is the coordinator of the political institutions and elections group at CEBRAP (Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning) and a researcher at the University of São Paulo’s Center for Comparative and International Studies (NECI/USP). She focuses her research on Brazilian politics, especially coalitions, the executive-legislative relationship, and political parties...
Bruno Reis
Bruno Reis, an associate professor of political science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais and a visiting researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, has worked on a wide range of areas in political science, including political theory, politics in the Internet era, methodology, and campaign finance studies...
Bruno Hoepers
Bruno Hoepers is a PhD student in political science at the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests include executive politics and bureaucracy, comparative political behavior, clientelism, and policy responsiveness in Latin America.
Mariana Borges Silva
Mariana Borges Silva is a PhD candidate in political science at Northwestern University. Her research interests include clientelism, leftist political parties, qualitative research methods (in particular ethnography), and interdisciplinary approaches. Her focus has been mainly on Latin America, specifically Brazil and Argentina.
Renato Lima de Oliveira
Renato Lima de Oliveira is a PhD student in political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Broadly interested in studying development and energy policies, he holds a BA in journalism from Federal University of Pernambuco and an MA in Latin American studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His MA thesis explored the growth of oil industry in Brazil and how oil royalties are leading to less fiscal transparency.
Danilo Medeiros
Danilo Medeiros is a PhD student in comparative politics at the University of Virginia. A researcher at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP) and at the Center for Comparative and International Studies (NECI-USP), he focuses his research primarily on executive-legislative relations and party politics in presidential democracies. He earned a BA in social sciences and an MA in political science from the University of São Paulo.
Umberto Mignozzetti
Umberto Mignozzetti is a PhD candidate in political science at New York University. His research areas are comparative political economy and comparative politics of developing countries. He holds a BA in social sciences and an MA in political science from the University of São Paulo.
Lucas Novaes
Lucas Novaes is a PhD candidate in political science at the University of California, Berkeley. With a primary focus on the Brazilian party system, he researches the mechanics of clientelistic party organizations and how tensions that arise across subnational and local party tiers explain system-wide outcomes...
Tiago Peterlevitz
Tiago Peterlevitz is a PhD student in political science at Yale University. His research interests include the political economy of governance, provision of public goods, clientelism, and political parties. He received an MA in political science from the University of São Paulo.
Beatriz Rey
Beatriz Rey is a PhD candidate in political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where she double majors in comparative politics and public administration/public policy and minors in methods. Her research interests include public policy, policymaking, and agenda setting, with a special focus on Latin America.
Guilherme Russo
Guilherme Russo is a PhD student in political science at Vanderbilt University, where he is affiliated with the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP). His research interests include comparative political behavior and public opinion, and his dissertation proposal focuses on the effects of different party systems on individual political efficacy.