Research

Caption: The background image is of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Brasília.

Dissertation Project:

Subnational Crisis Politics in Latin America

My dissertation explores why Brazilian mayors varied in their COVID-19 responses despite state governors' attempts to create a uniform response. It introduces a new theoretical framework that distinguishes everyday politics from what I call subnational crisis politics. 

This ongoing project is funded by the John L. Simpson ABD Research Fellowship in Area Studies, the U.S. Fulbright Scholars Program, and the Governance and Local Development Institute at the University of Gothenburg (GLD). 

Working Papers: 

"Trust and Vaccine Uptake during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from a Factorial Experiment." With Danielle F. Jung & Aila M. Matanock 

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected American Indian communities, both on and off tribal lands. American Indian communities, particularly in the Navajo Nation, were disproportionately affected, leading to some of the highest rates of infections and deaths in the United States. Overlapping jurisdictions and sources of authority have made communication difficult as conflicting messages on the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine have decreased the likelihood of vaccine uptake. Yet, in American Indian communities, the rate of vaccination has been far higher than in non-native communities. What factors shape willingness to take vaccines, especially in American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) communities? This study uses a multi-wave survey that includes experiments across multiple samples to understand American Indian populations' vaccine uptake better. We use a factorial experiment to adjudicate among leaders, messages, and reasons and to see which, if any, matters more for increasing vaccine uptake in our samples. 

The National Science Foundation Rapid Application for COVID-19 funds this project.

"The Politics of Emergencies: Bridging the Gap in Public Health and Political Science Analyses" With Lorena G. Barberia 

Abstract:  How do public health and political science view and address different forms of emergencies? With an increasing number of emergencies (e.g., natural disasters and epidemics), scholars from various fields have attempted to identify, analyze, and recommend policies. While these efforts have been commendable, there is a fundamental disagreement about when and how these problems emerge and who should address them. For example, most public health scholars agree that there is an urgent need to increase health state capacity, consolidate disparate frameworks into a single framework (e.g., One Health), create and share data across countries, and invest in future genomic and vaccine technologies. Conversely, political science holds that politicians have a greater incentive to respond during, not before, an emergency, and voters hold their elected leaders accountable afterward.

"Advance Warning and Response Exemplars (AWARE): Brazil." With Lorena G. Barberia 

Abstract: This project seeks to contribute to the Advance Warning and Response Exemplars (AWARE) project by identifying the key drivers that lead to successful warning systems (EWS) based on Brazil's experience in combating public health events, including outbreaks of climate-sensitive infectious diseases and those with pandemic potential in the last 30 years. This project examines the barriers and facilitators to developing, implementing, and sustaining a robust EWS in Brazil. We use a mixed-methods approach to identify enablers and barriers, which include a review of national and international publications, key informant interviews, and a policy review. 

This ongoing project is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Gates Ventures, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is in collaboration with Brown University's Pandemic Center. 

"Doctors as Mayors: Activating Professional Representation in Brazilian Localities " With Anthony Rene Carillo and Elise Amelia Cline (PhD-bound undergraduate students)

Abstract: When do voters elect medical professionals for office? Scholars focused on symbolic and substantive representation typically concentrate on race, gender, religion, or some combination thereof as valence categories that voters use to inform their candidate choice. However, historically, political science scholars have been interested in occupation as a salient category, particularly lawyers. With the decline of the politician-lawyer in Congress, scholars lost interest in the occupation as an essential social cleavage. Yet, in other countries, there are a substantial number of elected officials who are seemingly elected based on their profession as medical professionals at the local level, especially in Brazil. 

Using an online conjoint experiment in Brazil, this project attempts to adjudicate between hypotheses used to explain the involvement of other occupations in the political arena, such as prestige, resources, and party affiliation. Instead, we argue that voters may choose medical professionals as mayors when they 1) healthcare is a top priority, 2) believe the public healthcare system is deficient, and 3) believe that medical professionals have the expertise to improve the healthcare system. These criteria become salient, especially in times of crisis, such as an epidemic or a recent exposure to illness, when voters look to medical professionals to solve publicly oriented problems.