Lights and Shadows of Democracy in Chile

Come join us on Thursday, November 21 from 2-5pm  in McGhee Library (Intercultural Center 301, Georgetown University main campus) for an exciting event focused on politics in Chile! The event will feature five distinguished panelists who will discuss the actors, institutions, dynamics, and challenges involved in the past, present, and future of democracy in Chile. A brief reception will follow in Intercultural Center 484.

Panelists:

Isabel Aninat, Dean, Faculty of Law, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Chile

Simon Ballesteros, PhD Candidate, Department of Government, Georgetown University

Pamela Figueroa, Associate Professor, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Santiago, Chile

Peter Siavelis, Professor, Department of Political Science and International Affairs, Wake Forest University

Arturo Valenzuela, Emeritus Professor of Government, Georgetown University; former Professor of Political Science, Duke University; and US official at the Department of State and White House

Moderator: Diana Kapiszewski, Associate Professor, Department of Government; Director, Center for Latin American Studies, Georgetown University

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain expert insights into Chile! Due to the popularity of this event, please arrive at least five minutes before the start time. 

This event is sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University. 

Peter Siavelis

Professor, Department of Political Science and International Affairs, Wake Forest University

Dr. Peter M. Siavelis is a Professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest University. He has published widely on many aspects of Latin American and Chilean politics including candidate selection, election systems, presidencies, gender quotas and informal institutions. His most recent edited book is El quiebre de la democracia: 50 años después (with Pamela Figueroa) and he has published in journals including Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Electoral Studies, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Journal of Democracy, and Latin American Research Review. His recent commentary on the Chilean process has appeared in Foreign Policy, NPR, Current History, Americas Quarterly, Washington Post, and the BBC as well as numerous outlets in Latin America.

Arturo Valenzuela

Emeritus Professor of Government (Georgetown University), former Professor of Political Science (Duke University), and US official at the Department of State and White House

Dr. Arturo Valenzuela is Emeritus Professor of Government and International Affairs at Georgetown University and founder of Georgetown’s Center for Latin American Studies. He is an authority on the origins, consolidation and crises of democracy, Latin American politics, and U.S. - Latin American relations. He was Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere in the Obama Administration and served as Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs in the National Security Council at the White house in Clinton’s second term. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs in Clinton’s first term responsible for U.S.-Mexican relations. He has served as an advisor on constitutional and electoral reform in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. On retiring from Georgetown he served on several corporate and think-tank boards and as Senior Policy Advisor for Covington & Burling LLP, a Washington based global law firm.

Simón Ballesteros

PhD Candidate, Department of Government, Georgetown University

Simón Ballesteros is a PhD candidate in the Department of Government at Georgetown University. He uses quantitative and qualitative methods to study the causes and effects of constitution-making, legal and political institutions, and democracy, with a regional emphasis on Latin America. During the 2023-2024 Academic Year, Simón was a Predoctoral Fellow with the SIGLA database project (State and Institutions of Governance in Latin America, www.sigladata.org). He holds a BA in Economics and an MA in Economic Analysis from the University of Chile.

Pamela Figueroa

Associate Professor, Institute of Advanced Studies, Universidad De Santiago de Chile, Chile

Dr. Pamela Figueroa holds a PhD. in Political and Social Studies (Universidad de Santiago de Chile), and a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies (Georgetown University). She is currently Associate Professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of Santiago, Chile, Advisor to the Electoral Authority of Chile, Leibniz Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (2022) and Georgetown Leadership Program Scholar (2007). She is the author of several books and academic publications. Her most recent books include El quiebre de la democracia: 50 años después (co-authored with Peter Siavelis, Editorial USACH, 2023), Cómo funciona nuestra democracia (co-authored with Lucía Dammert; Editorial USACH, 2022). She is a member of the Chilean Political Science Association, the Network of Women Political Scientists and a member of the International Council of the Observatory for Political Reform in Latin America (OAS-UNAM), member of the International Advisory Board of the States and Institutions of Governance in Latin America (“SIGLA”) database Project of Georgetown University for the period 2024-2025.

Isabel Aninat

Dean, Faculty of Law, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Chile

Isabel Aninat, Chile, serves as Dean of the Law School at Chile’s Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (UAI). Previously, she was a researcher at the Centro de Estudios Públicos (CEP). Aninat has co-edited various books and is the author of several articles in the areas of ​​law and public policy. In 2019, Aninat was part of the technical commission that drafted the constitutional reform proposal for the constituent process in Chile. She has a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and an LLM from Columbia University. She is the Vice Chair of the Board of Advisors at International IDEA and serves on the board of the Tinker Foundation and various Chilean think tanks and NGOs.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Intercultural Center, McGhee Library (ICC 301), 1501 Tondorf Road, Washington, United States