Patrick Cunha Silva is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago.
Focusing on political representation and electoral dynamics, his work explores how institutional frameworks impact the representation of marginalized groups. He specializes in electoral rule reforms, using these shifts to study strategic interactions between elites and the electorate. Although centered on Brazil and Latin America, his research draws on global data from Europe and Oceania. Cunha Silva utilizes a diverse methodological toolkit, including experimental and observational research designs.
His Kellogg fellowship project is titled, “Setting Aside Spots on the Ballot: A Simulation-Based Approach to Measure Quota Effectiveness.” By expanding a simulation framework and creating a new index, the project evaluates how electoral quota effectiveness is shaped by institutional design versus voter and elite preferences to help practitioners improve representation
Cunha Silva’s work has been published in The Journal of Politics, The British Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, among other outlets. His co-authored book, Electoral System Incentives for Interparty and Intraparty Politics, was published by Oxford University Press in 2025. He is currently working on a second co-authored book (under contract with Cambridge University Press) about the impact of district magnitude on the political representation of women and Afro-descendants in Brazil.
He was recently a visiting researcher in the Center for Metropolitan Studies (CEM) at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. He holds a PhD in political science from Washington University in St. Louis.