Experts

Peter Siavelis is an expert in electoral, legislative and presidential politics in Latin America with a particular focus on Chile and Argentina. He also specializes in Latino immigration to the United States and can comment of immigration reform.

Among his many publications, he co-edited Pathways to Power: Political Recruitment and Candidate Selection in Latin America. He is also the co-editor of Getting Immigration Right: What Every American Needs to Know with fellow Wake Forest Political Science Professor David Coates. His research currently focuses on election politics in Latin America, specifically candidate selection including the election of Michelle Bachelet as president of Chile. His 2014 book, Democratic Chile: The Politics and Policies of a Historic Coalition, focuses on Chile’s Concertación coalition of parties, one of the central political forces since the fall of military dictator Augusto Pinochet and the coalition that governed Chile for 20 years after the return to democracy.

Siavelis has been published widely, writing on topics including the election of Michelle Bachelet as president of Chile, candidate selection, immigration, and Latin American politics in numerous journal articles and book chapters including articles in Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Party Politics, Latin American Research Review and Latin American Politics and Society. He has contributed to and been quoted in a number of media outlets the election of Michelle Bachelet as president of Chile including the New York Times, NPR, O Globo and Chilean newspapers such as La Tercera and El Mercurio.