About me

Welcome! I am a PhD Candidate in Comparative Politics at Cornell University’s Department of Government. My research centers on social movements, electoral behavior, far-right demand and populism, and public opinion, with a regional focus on Latin America and Southern Europe. My work examines how individuals behave in crises of political representation, and how those crises reshape broader political attitudes. I am particularly interested in the interaction between contentious and institutional behavior. Methodologically, I rely primarily on survey research and statistical modeling, but I am committed to a multi-method approach that brings in qualitative techniques to capture the complexity underlying these phenomena.

During Fall 2026, I will be conducting fieldwork in Chile.

At Cornell, I am a graduate fellow at the Center on Global Democracy. My research has also been generously supported by the American Political Science Association (APSA), the Einaudi Center for International Studies, the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, the Cornell Center for Social Sciences (CCSS), and the Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES).

Before starting my doctoral studies, I was a research assistant at the Laboratory for the Study of the Far-Right (Ultra-Lab/UDP-PUC), the Chilean Longitudinal Social Survey (ELSOC-COES), and the Social Psychology Laboratory (PUC). I earned an MSc in Political Science and Political Economy from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a BSc in Sociology from Universidad de Chile, both with the highest distinction. I also hold an MA in Political Science from Cornell University.

Feel free to contact me at ras647 [at] cornell [dot] edu