Deborah J. Yashar is Professor of Politics and International Affairs. She is also co-director of the Project on Democracy and Development. Her research focuses on the intersection of democracy and citizenship – with publications on the origins and endurance of political regimes; the relationship between citizenship regimes, local autonomy, and ethnic politics; collective action and contentious politics; interest representation and party systems; and globalization. She is the author of two books: Demanding Democracy: Reform and Reaction in Costa Rica and Guatemala (Stanford University Press, 1997) and Contesting Citizenship in Latin America: The Rise of Indigenous Movements and the Postliberal Challenge (Cambridge University Press, 2005) – which received the 2006 Best Book Prize, awarded by the New England Council on Latin American Studies (NECLAS) and the 2006 Mattei Dogan Honorable Mention, awarded by the Society for Comparative Research. She has also written several articles published in leading journals and edited volumes.

She is currently writing a book, tentatively entitled Violence, Citizenship, and Public Security in Post-Authoritarian Latin America. This research project sets out to explain both the contemporary rise in violent crime and the uneven record of Latin America’s third wave democracies to provide public security and rule of law. By systematically comparing three critical state institutions (the police, attorney general’s office, and the judiciary) in countries with high and low levels of violence, this book aims to advance theoretical debates about the contours of democracy, the varied ability of states to secure a monopoly on the legitimate use of force, and the implications of contemporary violence for democratic citizenship.

Curriculum Vitae