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.

My academic interests primarily focus on corruption, public opinion, and voting behavior—more specifically on their intersection with issues of democratic governance and electoral accountability. My dissertation promotes the understanding of why corruption persists under democratic systems. In doing so, it sheds light on factors that lead to democracies of poor quality, weak democratic governance, and lack of accountability.

My primary region of interest is Latin America, with an emphasis on Brazil. My broad and diverse methodological skills, coupled with my appreciation for a multi-methods approach to research, allow my research to benefit from quantitative and large-N data.