Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Lead Research Fellow | Editor Journal of Politics in Latin America

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

  • Kurzer Lebenslauf

    • Seit 04/2025: ERA-Chair-Inhaberin an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Karlsuniversität. Das Projekt ERA Chair in Multidisciplinary Area Studies (ERA-AREAS) wird durch das Programm Horizon Europe finanziert.
    • Seit SoSe 2021: außerordentliche Professur für „Demokratische Institutionen im Globalen Süden“ an der Universität Erfurt; Projekt "Democratic Institutions in the Global South" am GIGA, Teil des Leibniz-Professorinnenprogramms
    • 08/2023 - 09/2025: Co-Direktorin des GIGA Institut für Lateinamerika-Studien (interim)
    • 08/2018 - 04/2021: Stellv. Gleichstellungsbeauftragte am GIGA

    • 05/2015 - 07/2022: Leitung des FSP 1 "Politische Verantwortlichkeit und Partizipation"

    • 2014 - 2015: Kommisarische Leitung des FSP 1 "Legitimität und Effizienz politischer Systeme"

    • 2009 - 2015: Sprecherin des Forschungsteams 2 "Politik in Judikative und Verfassungsrecht" im Forschungsschwerpunkt 1

    • Seit 2006: Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am GIGA Institut für Lateinamerika-Studien

    • 2001 - 2004: Projektmitarbeiterin am Institut für Iberoamerika-Kunde, Hamburg

    • 2000: Gastforscherin an der Universität Augsburg

    • 1993 - 1998: Doktorarbeit der Politikwissenschaft zum Thema "Privatization and Democracy in Argentina"

    • Studium: Promotion in Politikwissenschaft an der University of Oxford, St. Antony's College, Großbritannien; Masterstudiengang "Sozial- und Politikgeschichte", Instituto Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentinien; Politikwissenschaft an der Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentinien

    Aktuelle Forschung

    • Politische Institutionen in Lateinamerika

    • Präsidentialismus

    • Parlamente in Lateinamerika

    • Gerichte in Lateinamerika

    • Beziehung Exekutive, Legislative, Judikative

    Länder und Regionen

    • Argentinien

    • Lateinamerika

    • Brasilien


    Mitgliedschaften

    • Verfassungsblog | On Matters Constitutional, Member of Advisory Board of Das Justiz Projekt, 2025 - 2025
    • Journal of Politics in Latin America, Chefredakteur:in, seit 2021

    Auszeichnungen

    • 2022 Jewell-Loewenberg Prize in Comparative Politics, Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association, 2022
    • Founders Award 2015, American Political Science Association (APSA), 2015

    Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

    Lead Research Fellow / Editor Journal of Politics in Latin America

    T. +49 (40) 42825-766[email protected]


    Democratization | 03.2026

    The Personalization of Political Power Revisited

    How does political power become personalized? This special issue examines the gradual concentration of authority in chief executives across regime types, the mechanisms that weaken checks and collective decision-making, and why it matters for institutions, policymaking, and political accountability.

    Law and Policy | 11.2025

    Courts and Social Participation in Latin America: The Use of Public Hearings and Amici Curiae

    This article analyses from a comparative perspective under what conditions Latin American constitutional and supreme courts implement mechanisms of social participation in judicial decision-making, particularly through public hearings and the acceptance of amicus curiae briefs.

    Democratization | 09.2025

    Personnel Management, Institutional Engineering, and Coercion: Mechanisms of the Personalization of Executive Power

    How do chief executives personalize power? In this paper we conceptualize the personalization of executive power based on observable processes initiated by the chief executive looking at personnel management, institutional engineering, and coercion.

    GIGA Focus Lateinamerika | 2/2025

    Latin America: Germany’s Indispensable Partner

    Trumps disruptive Politik kann ungewollt den Anstoß dazu geben, Europa und Lateinamerika näher zusammenzubringen. Mit einer klugen Politik hat die künftige deutsche Bundesregierung die Möglichkeit, gemeinsame Interessen für eine erneuerte Partnerschaft zu nutzen.

    Infografik | 04.2025

    COVID-19 and Executive Personalization in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the MENA Region: A Dashboard

    This dashboard examines how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced executive personalization in 32 countries. Each bubble represents a country and its number of personalization events. Select one or two, then use the buttons to explore the events and their underlying mechanisms.

    Forschungsprojekt | 01.04.2025 - 30.04.2030

    ERA Chair in Multidisciplinary Area Studies

    ERA-AREAS establishes the Center for Multidisciplinary Area Studies (CenMAS) at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University (CUFA), marking a major step in institutional advancement. Led by ERA Chair Holder Prof. Mariana Llanos, the project drives organizational reform and introduces an innovative methodological shift by integrating social-scientific and linguistic-cultural approaches, strengthening research capacity, international networking, and CUFA’s global excellence.
    EU, 2025-2030

    Forschungsprojekt | 15.01.2022 - 31.07.2026

    COVID-19 and Executive Personalization in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the MENA Region

    In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, political leaders reacted by containment measures that, next to combating the spread of the pandemic, also presented a window of opportunity to bolster executives’ personal grasp on power. Personalization of power has been particularly worrying in the Global South where constraints on the chief executives were often already weak prior to the pandemic. This project assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the personalization of executive power in 36 countries of the Global South.
    DFG, 2021-2026

    Forschungsprojekt | 01.05.2021 - 31.03.2027

    Democratic Institutions in the Global South (DEMINGS)

    This project contributes new knowledge on the functioning of democratic institutions in the Global South, their (in)efficacy to constrain powerful executives, and the effects of particular institutions on both democratic quality and regime stability. The focus is on countries with presidential constitutions, i.e., those with directly elected presidents, an institutional choice that extended worldwide in the last decades.
    Leibniz Competition, 2021-2027

    Forschungsprojekt | 01.01.2019 - 31.12.2021

    Presidents Who Die Too Soon and Presidents Who Live Too Long. Term Limits and Succession in Presidential and Semi-Presidential Regimes

    This cooperation project researches two important rules defining the presidential mandates, i.e. presidential term limits and succession rules, and their intersection in the presidential regimes of Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.
    DAAD/PPP, 2019-2021

    DW | Zitat | 10.12.2025

    Dos años de Milei en Argentina: fortalecido, pese al ajuste

    Javier Milei ya puede hacer balance de la primera mitad de su mandato como presidente de Argentina. ¿Qué aciertos y desaciertos se anota? ¿Qué se puede esperar en los dos años que siguen?

    D+C | Kommentar / Gastbeitrag | 03.11.2025

    A landmark for democracy

    In a historic conviction, Brazil’s courts have found former president Jair Bolsonaro guilty of attempting a coup, among other serious charges. This sends out a powerful signal of 
    institutional strength in times when non-democratic actors are increasingly winning elections worldwide.

    Die Zeit Online | Interview | 26.10.2025

    Geht Milei keine Kompromisse ein, wird es für ihn schwierig

    Es ist ein Stimmungstest für Argentiniens Präsidenten Javier Milei: Bei der Parlamentswahl werden die Hälfte der Sitze im Abgeordnetenhaus und ein Drittel der Sitze im Senat neu vergeben. 

    Workshop | 12.02.2026

    Challenges to Democracy in Latin America

    Research symposium: Why Democracies Fail Differently: Autocratization and Resistance in Central America, Charles University, Faculty of Arts, Prague Organisation: Univerzita Karlova, German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos (Vortragende:r)

    According to V-dem data, the global outlook for democracy is the bleakest in the past 25 years, and the “third wave of autocratization” continues to deepen and expand worldwide. This presentation situates Latin America within this broader trend and explains how the democratic erosion unfolds.

    Konferenz | 10.02.2026 - 11.02.2026

    Constitutional Resilience at the Edge: Written Guarantees, Unwritten Constraints

    Conference on Unwritten Constitutionalism and Informality, Masaryk University, Brno Organisation: Durham University Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos (Vortragende:r), Alina Maria Ripplinger (Vortragende:r)

    Although Latin America has a history of constitutional abuse, not all abusive situations result in democratic backsliding. This paper pays attention to the presidents’ political-institutional support, the role of unwritten constitutional norms, and the higher courts’ protection of the constitution.

    Lehre | Universidad de la República (UDELAR) | 2024

    Autocratización en el Sur Global

    Universidad de la República (UDELAR) Montevideo Uruguay

    Blockseminar for PhD students at the Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Lehre | Universität Erfurt | 2024

    Autocratization in the Global South

    Universität Erfurt Erfurt Deutschland

    University of Erfurt (2-hours per week)

    Lehre | GIGA Institut für Lateinamerika-Studien | Politische Verantwortlichkeit und Partizipation | 2024

    Democratic Institutions and Institutional Change

    MA course at the University of Erfurt

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