All posts by Ashley Mcilvain Moran

Learning across Cultures

By Alexys Aquino, Undergraduate student in the UT Government Department, International Relations and Global Studies Department, and Spanish and Portuguese Department

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, Graduate student at the UT LBJ School of Public Affairs

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, PhD student in the UT Government Department

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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Foreign Policy by Day, Culture by Night

By Frances Parra, Undergraduate student at the UT McCombs School of Business

As an International Business student, I have eagerly awaited the chance to study and work abroad in a meaningful way. I realized that such work would take me out of my comfort zone and test my professional and language skills. It is with those feelings that I approached my position at International IDEA’s offices in Panama.

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New Threats to Democracy

By Tien Vo, Undergraduate student in the UT Government Department, Mathematics Department, and Polymathic Scholars Honors Program

When I arrived in Santiago, Chile early this summer, I was a little nervous and very excited about what was awaiting me in a new city, a new country. Through my four years at UT, I explored a wide range of topics in politics, ranging from the productive political conversations taking place on social media platforms to affective polarization. And this research has always been U.S.-focused. But I had never thought about participating in an internship about constitutional reforms in a different country. Yet there I was applying for an internship on democratic assistance programs in Latin America, working with International IDEA.

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Women’s Political Participation in Panama

By Alexys Aquino, Undergraduate student in the UT Government Department, International Relations and Global Studies Department, and Spanish and Portuguese Department

I’m happy to report that humidity is universal, although sometimes it seems Texas has a monopoly on it! Along with the humidity, Panama has no shortage of lush greenery, kind strangers, and strong coffee. I had never been to Central America before this internship with International IDEA and UT Austin, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Now that I’ve been in Panama for over a month, I’ve started to get the hang of it all, from using the metro to navigating the temperamental elevators at the Electoral Tribunal. Despite all that I have learned, I’ve found that working in a multinational environment on topics as important as gender parity in Panamanian politics teaches you something new constantly.

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Chile Surrealista

By Alejandra Jimenez, Undergraduate student in the UT Government Department

Surrealism refers to a form of visual art that produces incongruous imagery by means of irrational juxtapositions. Some argue that surrealism revolutionizes the human experience, as magic and beauty can be found in the unexpected and uncanny. In a similar way, my time in Chile has been just that—pleasantly unexpected.

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Constitutional Performance in Panama

By Matt Martin, PhD student in the UT Government Department

The time I’ve spent in Panama has been nothing short of a privilege. To work alongside International IDEA and have a peek into the world of democratic and electoral assistance was invaluable, both on a professional and personal level. Most of my time was spent at the Tribunal Electoral (“Electoral Tribunal,” or TE), where International IDEA-Panama is located. The TE houses not only the country’s civil registry, national ID directorate, and specialized electoral body but also the Instituto de Estudios Democráticos (“Institute of Democratic Studies,” or INED). I worked alongside the director of INED, Salvador Sánchez, and several other researchers on his talented team. Their kindheartedness made me feel more than welcome as an intern.

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First-Ever Symbolic Youth Voting Campaign in Panama

By Kaitlin Passafiume, PhD candidate in the UT Spanish and Portuguese Department

As I wrap up the initial month of working with International IDEA at the Electoral Tribunal in Panama, I reflect on the diverse experiences that I have enjoyed in a short period of time. My completion of this internship signals an ability to successfully pivot from an academic background, using my critical humanities formation for public-facing work going forward. I remain convinced that cultural considerations have their place in governmental and extra-governmental projects, and I am heartened to find that the public arena in Panama considers and even encourages diverse perspectives.

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Fellows Team Grows in Chile!

Four graduate and undergraduate UT students are conducting their Summer 2023 work in Chile at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).

Alejandra Jimenez, Guillermo Pérez, and Tien Vo started their work at the IDEA Chile Office on June 1, and they’re joined this week by Matt Martin, fresh in from IDEA’s Panama Office. The fellows are supporting a range of legal and constitutional reform projects in Chile, with Chile’s current constitutional reform process underway.

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Fellows Arrive in Panama!

Six graduate and undergraduate UT students started their Summer 2023 work today in Panama at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).

Francisco Alvarado-Quiroz, Alexys Aquino, Matt Martin, and Kaitlin Passafiume are working at the IDEA Panama Office, supporting a range of democracy assistance projects including evaluations of the constitution’s performance, women’s participation in elections, and the first-ever Panamanian youth voting campaign.

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2023 Fellows Develop New Public Consultation

The 2023 Embedded Scholars have been preparing for their summer work abroad through a new government course created for the program — Research in Democratic and Constitutional Development — taught by Ashley Moran. The course delves into issues in democratization, constitutional design, and democracy assistance, engaging students in research in these areas. This semester, the students worked with Professor Moran and the Comparative Constitutions Project to design a new deliberative consultation framework to research public views on constitutional issues.

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UT, IDEA, and CCP Partner to Engage Students in Democracy Aid

This story originally appeared on the UT College of Liberal Arts website. A version of this story also appeared later on the UT Texas Global website.

Students from The University of Texas at Austin will spend the summer in Central and South America working on democracy and election assistance through a new partnership between UT’s Department of Government and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).

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UT GOV Hosts Partners from International IDEA

This story originally appeared on the UT Government Department website.

The UT Government Department hosted partners from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), kicking off a new collaboration that will send UT graduate and undergraduate students to work with IDEA on democracy and election assistance in the field.

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Embedded Scholars Program Names 2023 Fellows

The Embedded Scholars Program is an innovative research fellowship focused jointly on democracy assistance and research to launch students’ work in the field while advancing democratic development in Latin America. The program is based in the UT Government Department and developed in partnership with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and the Comparative Constitutions Project (CCP). The program is led by Zachary Elkins and Ashley Moran.

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