The Kellogg Institute at the University of Notre Dame welcomes its newest cohort of visiting fellows to campus this fall. Some will spend the fall semester at Kellogg, while others will remain throughout the academic year; additional visiting fellows will join the Institute for the spring semester.
Together, they bring research spanning democratic backsliding, political representation, civil war and constitutional change, authoritarian parties, the rule of law, organized crime, agricultural policy, and democratic resilience. During their time at Kellogg, they will pursue their own projects while contributing to the conversations, collaborations, and exchange of ideas that are central to the Institute’s research community.
Visiting Fellows
Three senior scholars join Kellogg this fall:
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Risa Brooks (Allis Chalmers Professor of Political Science, Marquette University): Her project, “Politicization of the Military in Eroding Democracies,” explores how leaders in declining democracies seek to turn the military into a partisan ally to facilitate democratic backsliding. This is a joint appointment with the O’Brien Notre Dame International Security Center. Academic Year.
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Patrick Cunha Silva (Assistant Professor of Political Science, Loyola University Chicago): He will utilize a simulation-based approach to measure the effectiveness of electoral quotas, evaluating how institutional design impacts the representation of marginalized groups. Fall 2026.
- Natalia Sobrevilla Perea (Researcher, Instituto Riva Agüero, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú): She will research how mid-nineteenth-century civil wars in Latin America influenced political life and led to the creation of new constitutional frameworks. Fall 2026.
Postdoctoral Visiting Fellows
Four scholars will serve as postdoctoral fellows:
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Fabio Angiolillo (PhD, University of Hong Kong): His project, "Authoritarian Political Parties: Attacking Democracies and Defending Autocracies," uses a new spatial dataset to analyze how authoritarian parties impact governance and stability at national and subnational levels. Academic Year.
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Saloni Bhogale (PhD, University of Wisconsin–Madison): She will investigate how local democratic institutions in the Global South maintain the rule of law through increased accountability and improved citizen trust. Academic Year.
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Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez (PhD, Harvard University): His research explores organized crime's influence on elections in Central America and Mexico. Academic Year.
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Madai Urteaga Quispe (PhD, Harvard University): Her research on "Agrarian Developmentalism" examines how party systems and rural producers' legislative strength shape government support for agriculture in Latin America. Academic Year.
Hewlett Visiting Fellow for Public Policy
The Hewlett Visiting Fellowship brings distinguished practitioners and scholars to Kellogg whose work connects academic research with public policy and practice:
- Paola Bautista de Alemán: As the Hewlett Fellow, she will continue her project, “Political Resilience: Democracy, Backsliding Democracies, and New Authoritarianisms,” focusing on creating democratic awareness and strengthening democratic values, and she plans to continue her political advocacy on behalf of democracy in her native Venezuela. Academic Year.
Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez, Madai Urteaga Quispe, and Paola Bautista de Alemán are continuing their Kellogg appointments for a second academic year.
Throughout the coming year, these fellows will add new perspectives to Kellogg’s conversations about democracy and development while creating opportunities for exchange with faculty, students, and other researchers across Notre Dame. Their projects reflect both the geographic reach and the range of approaches that characterize research at the Institute – from historical inquiry and comparative politics to new methods for studying some of the most pressing challenges facing democracy today.
The Kellogg Institute, part of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, is a leading center for interdisciplinary research dedicated to understanding, strengthening, and renewing democracy worldwide.