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.
Continue reading Embedded Scholars Join Election Evaluation in PanamaTag Archives: Travel
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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Foreign Policy by Day, Culture by Night
By Frances Parra
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
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
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
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
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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