Dissertation
Democracy in the Southern Cone: Anti-Establishment Politics and Denialist Rhetoric
In my dissertation, I examine anti-democratic and anti-establishment politics in Argentina and Chile. Specifically, I explore how outsider rhetoric and the cumulative failure of mainstream parties shape voter behavior. The first paper (my job market paper) analyzes denialist rhetoric that minimizes or justifies past human rights abuses and theorizes how voters respond to such appeals, often deployed by far-right outsiders. The second investigates how repeated governance failures by ideologically distinct mainstream coalitions fuel protest voting against the political establishment, particularly through invalid ballots and outsider support. The third examines the types of anti-establishment messages outsider candidates use and how these appeals differentially mobilize segments of the electorate.
▸ Do Voters Punish Denialism? Polarization, Democracy, and the Politics of the Past in the Southern Cone. Abstract
▸ Punishing the Political Establishment When Everyone Fails: Outsider Support and Invalid Voting. Under review. Abstract
▸ Punishing the Political Establishment When Everyone Fails: Outsider Support and Invalid Voting. Under review. Abstract
▸ What Drives Support for Outsiders? The Power of Valence and Ideology in Anti-Establishment Appeals. Abstract
Publications
Lautaro Cella, Ipek Çinar, Susan Stokes, and Andres Uribe (2025). Building Tolerance for Backsliding by Trash-Talking Democracy: Theory and Evidence from Mexico. Comparative Political Studies. ▸ Paper
Working Papers
Do LGB Candidates Cause Backlash? The Electoral Effect of Candidate Sexual Orientation in Latin America (with Rodrigo Castro Cornejo). Under review. ▸ Abstract
Work in Progress
The Impact of Indigenous Policies on Political Conflict (with Michael Albertus).
Public Scholarship
Chile’s New Voting Rules May Have Derailed the New Constitution, The Washington Post: Monkey Cage, September 16, 2022 (with Eli Rau).
Comparative Rules of Procedures in South America’s Chambers of Deputies, Working Paper N° 117, CIPPEC, 2019 (with Carolina Tchintian and Lara Goyburu).
The Gender Parity Law in Buenos Aires’ Local Governments, Policy Document N° 204, CIPPEC, 2018 (with Mariana Caminotti and Maria Page).
Congress’ Modernization and the Chamber of Deputies’ Rules of Procedures, Policy Document N° 200, CIPPEC, 2018 (with Alejandro Bonvecchi and Nicolas Cherny).
Comparative Rules of Procedures in South America’s Chambers of Deputies, Working Paper N° 117, CIPPEC, 2019 (with Carolina Tchintian and Lara Goyburu).
The Gender Parity Law in Buenos Aires’ Local Governments, Policy Document N° 204, CIPPEC, 2018 (with Mariana Caminotti and Maria Page).
Congress’ Modernization and the Chamber of Deputies’ Rules of Procedures, Policy Document N° 200, CIPPEC, 2018 (with Alejandro Bonvecchi and Nicolas Cherny).