Nicolás de la Cerda, Political Science

Name:

Nicolás de la Cerda

Title:

Assistant Professor

Department:

Political Science

Describe your research in about 200 words.

I study how citizens and political parties come together to make democratic representation happen, with a focus on Peru, Chile, and Mexico. On the citizen side, I study how people form political loyalties and make sense of the information and appeals they encounter. On the party side, I study the strategies politicians use to win votes, from ideological appeals to more personal tactics like charismatic leadership and the exchange of favors for political support. I seek to understand what shapes the relationship between citizens and the parties competing to represent them, and why that relationship looks so different across democracies.

What’s the most interesting thing you have learned from a student?

Students are constantly reminding me how much we still don’t know about politics! Their questions often make me realize there’s more to figure out than I thought.