Determinants of Subnational Polyarchy in Contemporary Brazil

Amidst the current global trend of democratic erosion, examining how and why democracy varies within countries is a fundamental task. This is particularly true for Brazil, a country wherein marked territorial disparities coexist with notable variation in levels of political participation and contestation. Inspired by the comparative literature on the heterogeneity of subnational regimes, we investigate the determinants of state-level variation in polyarchy since the national transition to democracy in 1985. (with Timothy J. Power and Virginia Rocha)