Laura Gamboa

I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah and 2023-24 Santo Domingo Visiting Scholar at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. My research focuses on institutions, regime and regime change in Latin America.

My book "Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy" studies opposition strategies against the erosion of democracy. Using the case of Alvaro Uribe in Colombia and Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, it analyzes how opposition strategic choices and goals can decisively affect the ability of executives with hegemonic aspirations to erode democracy. It received LASA's 2022 Donna Lee Van Cott Award for best book in political institutions and an honorable mention for APSA's 2023 Luebbert Book Award for best book in comparative politcs.

I have also published in academic journals such as Comparative Politics, Democratization, Political Research Quarterly, Journal of Democracy, Latin America Research Review, Electoral Studies, Terrorism and Political Violence, and Colombia Internacional.