German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

Emilia Arellano

Research Fellow

Short CV

Since 10/2023: Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies (ILAS)
08/2022 - 09/2023: Research Assitant at the GIGA in the project "COVID-19 and Executive Personalization in Subsaharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the MENA region".
07/2022 - 01/2023: Intern for the advocacy team of the Children´s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.
10/2021 - 01/2022: Research Assitant at the Centre For Sustainability Management, Leuphana University.
08/2020 - 09/2020: Analyst Lawyer at the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court.
Education: M.A. Public Economics, Law and Politics by the Leuphana University of Lüneburg; Constitucional Law Specialist by Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Quito; Lawyer by the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito.

Current Research

Executive Personalization in Latin America
Policy-making processes in democratic and authoritarian regimes
Power relations and rule of law

Countries and Regions

Ecuador
El Salvador
Latin America and the Caribbean

Research Programmes

Accountability and Participation

Emilia Arellano

Research Fellow

[email protected]

GIGA Working Papers | 01/2024

Personnel, Institutions, and Power: Revisiting the Concept of Executive Personalisation

Evidence shows a growing trend of chief executives personalising power in autocracies and democracies. Yet, scholarly focus remains siloed according to regime type. This Working Paper presents an overarching framework on the “Personalisation of Executive Power,” identifying the involved mechanisms.

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Dr. David Kuehn

Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter

Dr. Martin Acheampong

Dr. Esther Song

Emilia Arellano

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.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Dr. David Kuehn

Dr. Martin Acheampong

Emilia Arellano

Dr. Esther Song

Infographic | 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.

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Dr. David Kuehn

Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter

Dr. Martin Acheampong

Emilia Arellano

Eduardo Valencia

GIGA Working Papers | 01/2024

Personnel, Institutions, and Power: Revisiting the Concept of Executive Personalisation

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Dr. David Kuehn

Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter

Dr. Martin Acheampong

Dr. Esther Song

Emilia Arellano

Research Project | 01/02/2024 - 31/12/2025

Digital Transformation Lab (DigiTraL), Phase II: Digitalisation as Chance for Cooperation with Global Partners

GIGA‘s Digital Transformation Lab (DigiTraL), funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, analyses the political drivers and real-world consequences of the digital transformation taking place around the world. The Global South in particular is an important actor in and shaper of this transformation.
FFO, 2024-2025

Research Project | 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

BTI blog | Latinoamerica21 | Article | 31/03/2025

Ecuador’s 2025 Elections: Caught between Political Polarization and Escalating Violence

In this piece, Emilia Arellano takes a closer look at what’s shaping the electoral context in Ecuador — from rising violence to deepening polarization— and what’s at stake in this crucial vote.

zdf heute | Quote | 11/02/2025

Nach Wahl und vor Stichwahl: 750 Morde im Januar - Ecuador im Krisenmodus

In the midst of this crisis, Ecuador is electing a new head of state. "There is great uncertainty about the future and concern that the gangs will continue to control the country," explains Emilia Arellano in an interview with ZDF. The general election campaign theme is therefore: combating the country's security crisis.

Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) | 09/10/2025

From Personalization to Autocratization? Executive Power Dynamics Across Political Regimes

Organiser: Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos (Speaker), Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter (Speaker), Dr. David Kuehn (Speaker), Dr. Martin Acheampong (Speaker), Emilia Arellano (Speaker)

Mariana Llanos and Thomas Richter presented results from the DFG-funded project "COVID-19 and Executive Personalization in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the MENA Region" at the 1st Annual Interdisciplinary WZB Conference.

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter

Dr. David Kuehn

Dr. Martin Acheampong

Emilia Arellano

Conference | 11/09/2025 - 14/09/2025

From Personalization to Autocratization? Executive Power Dynamics Across Political Regimes

APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2025, Vancouver Convention Centre, Vancouver Organisers: American Political Science Association Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter (Speaker), Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos (Speaker), Dr. David Kuehn (Speaker), Dr. Martin Acheampong (Speaker), Emilia Arellano (Speaker)

Thomas Richter presented results from the DFG-funded project "COVID-19 and Executive Personalization in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the MENA Region" at the APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Vancouver.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Dr. David Kuehn

Dr. Martin Acheampong

Emilia Arellano

Conference | 12/08/2024 - 15/08/2024

Executive Personalization and Constraints Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

ECPR General Conference 2024, University College Dublin, Dublin Dr. Martin Acheampong (Speaker), Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos (Speaker), Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter (Speaker), Dr. David Kuehn (Speaker), Emilia Arellano (Speaker)

GIGA researchers Dr. Martin Acheampong, Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos, Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter, Dr. David Kuehn, and Emilia Arellano present their paper "Executive Personalization and Constraints Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic" at the ECPR General Conference 2025. The presentation is part of the panel "Presidential Leadership in Crisis: Comparative Institutional Approaches to Defense and Security Threats and Policies, Geopolitical Challenges, and Strategic Competition".

Dr. Martin Acheampong

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter

Dr. David Kuehn

Emilia Arellano

Emilia Arellano

Short CV

Current Research

Countries and Regions

Research Programmes

Emilia Arellano

Highlights

Personnel, Institutions, and Power: Revisiting the Concept of Executive Personalisation

Publications

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

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

Personnel, Institutions, and Power: Revisiting the Concept of Executive Personalisation

Research Projects

Digital Transformation Lab (DigiTraL), Phase II: Digitalisation as Chance for Cooperation with Global Partners

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

Media Contributions

Ecuador’s 2025 Elections: Caught between Political Polarization and Escalating Violence

Nach Wahl und vor Stichwahl: 750 Morde im Januar - Ecuador im Krisenmodus

Lectures

From Personalization to Autocratization? Executive Power Dynamics Across Political Regimes

From Personalization to Autocratization? Executive Power Dynamics Across Political Regimes

Executive Personalization and Constraints Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Notification

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