Fellows Ariana Guerrero and Paulina Licon from the UT Embedded Scholars Program participated in post-election assessments in Panama last week in a delegation led by the Electoral Tribunal of Panama and the Institute of Democratic Studies (INED), evaluating initiatives implemented during Panama’s national election held 5 May 2024. Panama is one of at least 73 countries globally holding elections this year in what has been dubbed a global elections super-cycle, with half the world’s population going to the polls this year.
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Embedded Scholars Win Democracy Research Award
Fellows in the UT Government Department’s Embedded Scholars Program won an award for their research conducted in the spring Embedded Scholars class prepping them for field work in democracy assistance. Fellows Andreana Faucette and Paulina Licon won the 2024 Patman Center Research Award for Advancing Democracy, which recognizes “exceptional insight and dedication to advancing the cause of democracy.”
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UT Sends 2024 Embedded Scholars to Latin America
UT’s Embedded Scholars program is sending its 2024 cohort to Latin America later this month to support democracy and electoral assistance programs this summer. With at least 73 countries—eight in Latin America alone—holding elections this year, amid rising polarization and democratic challenges, the stakes are high for national and international actors working to promote free and fair elections and robust democracy.
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Fellows Share Research on Participation, Culture, and Democratic Resilience
The 2024 fellows conducted research this spring on a range of pressing challenges and opportunities for democracies today. Students shared their research this week, giving presentations on the role of public participation, civic and constitutional culture, and democratic resilience in preserving and advancing democracy.
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Fellows Share Research on Disinformation and Backsliding
In their internship class this spring, the 2024 fellows conducted research on key challenges facing democracies today. Their research assessed current findings on these challenges globally and the sociopolitical, legal, and constitutional dynamics shaping these issues in Latin America. Today, students presented their research on disinformation in elections and democratic disaffection and backsliding.
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2024 Fellows Start Democracy Course
The 2024 Embedded Scholars started their class this spring to prepare for their work with International IDEA on democracy assistance programs. In Summer 2024, UT students selected for the Embedded Scholars fellowship will work in International IDEA’s office in Latin America, supporting a range of democracy and electoral assistance programs.
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Video Diary: Day in the Life of Fellows in Panama
UT fellow Matthew Martin and International IDEA provide a video tour of a day in the life of fellows working for International IDEA in Panama. Matt discusses his work analyzing constitutional performance and takes us on their visit to the National Archives of Panama, exploring the political and cultural history of Panama.
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Understanding Political Risk
By Frances Parra
As my time in Panama came to an end, I was tasked with the professional culmination of my internship, as well as the goodbyes to the place and people I called home for the entirety of the summer. My research for International IDEA had explored topics such as political risk, governance, and foreign policy in Latin American countries. Although my primary focus was Latin America, my investigations delved into the foreign relations of Latin American countries with regions around the world, including Asia, Europe, and North America. Overall, it sought to understand these topics as they pertain to democratic governance and society in Latin America today and in the future.
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Chilean Constitution Drafting
By Guillermo Pérez
My experience during the internship was wonderful for multiple reasons. First and foremost, working with a prestigious organization like International IDEA is a privilege. The research projects, the opportunities for influence, and the constant dialogue with political authorities in the country are extremely important for strengthening democracy. Earlier in the summer, we had the opportunity to participate in a seminar organized by IDEA on the Chilean constitutional process. In that seminar, international experts such as Adam Chilton, Lisa Hilbink, and David Landau shared their reflections on the Chilean constitutional proposal. There were also dialogues between the constitutional experts who proposed the draft constitution and the members of the Constitutional Council that reviewed and approved the final version.
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IDEA & Electoral Tribunal Share UT Student Work in Latin America
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and the Institute of Democratic Studies (INED) at the Electoral Tribunal of Panama released a video sharing the work of University of Texas students who interned with them in Summer 2023 as part of the UT Government Department’s Embedded Scholars program.
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Comms, Elections, and Personal Transformation
By Adriel Bustillos
Embarking on an internship with International IDEA in Panama City was been a remarkable and transformative experience. Over the course of my time in Panama, I had the opportunity to contribute to vital projects, including designing new communications materials for IDEA’s regional work and conducting research on elections and runoff processes in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Beyond professional growth, the internship also allowed me to immerse myself in the vibrant Panamanian culture and expand my horizons. The overall experience gave me a new sense of learning, but one that will always be held close to my heart in years to come.
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2024 Fellowship Applications Due Nov. 15
The 2024 Fellowship Application is now open for UT students to apply for the Summer 2024 fellowship focused on democratic institutional development in Panama. Applications are due by November 15, 2023.
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AI, Social Media, and Democracy
By Tien Vo
I recently graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in government and math. This summer I got to work with International IDEA through an internship organized by the UT Government Department and two amazing professors, Ashley Moran and Zachary Elkins. It is a newly developed internship program to study democratic institutional development in Latin America, and it has been an honor being one of the students chosen to participate in this program.
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The State of Democracy in Latin America
By Francisco Alvarado-Quiroz
What we know collectively as “Latin America” contains, depending on whom you ask and how you count, some 21-plus countries. The landscapes contain high-altitude cities, untouched jungles, and beautiful beaches. While you could get away communicating in Spanish throughout most of the region, there are an uncountable number of languages and dialects.
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Election Preparation in Panama
By Kaitlin Passafiume
After my return from Panama, I am full of reflections about my time spent there working with International IDEA and its partners at the Institute for Democratic Studies (INED). My final month working in these capacities was different from the first, as it was more hands on and largely interactive. In the first portion of my internship, I worked in a largely independent way, developing memos that analyzed youth voting programs across Latin America. In the last half of my internship, I was very much part of a team.
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Stunning Mountains, Long Bus Rides, and Lots of Milanesa
By Alejandra Jimenez
In my last week interning for International IDEA, I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Fabricio Franco, a professor and director of the Chile office of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences. During this meeting, the other interns and I got to learn more about Chile’s current sociopolitical dynamics from a perspective I had not heard before. This made a fulfilling closing to my internship with IDEA that further motivated me to remain informed about Chile’s journey towards a potential new constitution.
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Supporting the Chilean Constituent Process
By Matt Martin
After three weeks under the Panamanian sun, I headed to Santiago for a taste of the Chilean winter. There I spent the last three weeks of the Democratic Institutional Development internship working closely alongside the team at the International IDEA office in Chile. The second half of my experience was a perfect complement to the first, providing not only greater exposure to IDEA’s operations but also a chance to understand more deeply Chile’s constitutional moment, a topic of great personal interest.
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Learning across Cultures
By Alexys Aquino
My last week in Panama went by so fast. All of a sudden, I was on a plane back to Texas and, just like that, my six weeks there were over. Now that I’m back in the U.S., I feel so aware of the things I learned in Panama and the aspects of life there that I really valued. Some of them I can implement in my life, and others I’ll just have to look upon fondly.
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The Pull of History
By Francisco Alvarado-Quiroz
I knew very little about Panama before arriving in early June. From what I remembered from classrooms and books, there was a canal the French started, and the Americans finished. Carter gave it back. The United States invaded in 1989, and now the capital city is awash with investment money building a skyline akin to Miami or Hong Kong. There is, of course, a lot more to the story. And in my four weeks here the team at IDEA has shown us Panama’s long effort to form a durable democratic government, and the United States’ involvement.
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A Unique Adventure
By Guillermo Perez
Throughout my life, I have had the privilege of living in many places, including Spain, Mexico, and the United States. I have remembered and missed my country of birth, Chile, in each of these places. However, this was the first time in recent years when I had the chance to mix the world of Chile with that of the country where I live. This internship allowed me to combine my North American world with my Chilean world, and it was a truly extraordinary experience.
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