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

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

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Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Lead Research Fellow | Editor Journal of Politics in Latin America

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

  • Short CV

    • Since 04/2025: ERA-Chair holder at the Charles University Faculty of Arts. The project ERA Chair in Multidisciplinary Area Studies (ERA-AREAS) is funded by the Horizon Europe programme.
    • Since summer term 2021: extraordinary Professor for "Democratic Institutions in the Global South" at the University of Erfurt; project "Democratic Institutions in the Global South" at GIGA. Part of the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors
    • 08/2023 - 09/2025: Co-Director of the GIGA Institute of Latin American Studies (ad interim)
    • 08/2018 - 04/2021: Deputy equal opportunity commissioner at the GIGA

    • 05/2015 - 07/2022: Head of RP 1 "Accountability and Participation"

    • 2014 - 2015: Acting Head of GIGA’s Research Program 1 “Legitimacy and Efficiency of Political Systems”

    • 2009 - 2015: Speaker of the Research Team "The Politics of Courts and Constitutions", at GIGA’s Research Programme 1 "Legitimacy and Efficiency of Political Systems"

    • Since 2006: Researcher, GIGA Institute of Latin American Studies

    • 2001 - 2004: Project Researcher, Institut für Iberoamerika-Kunde, Hamburg

    • 2000: Visiting researcher, Universität Augsburg

    • 1993 - 1998: D.Phil. thesis in Political Science

    • Education: D.Phil in Politics, University of Oxford, St. Antony's College, U.K.; Postgraduate Programme on Social and Political History, Instituto Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Licenciatura in Political Science; Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Current Research

    • Political institutions in Latin America

    • Presidentialism

    • Latin American congresses

    • Latin American courts

    • President-Congress relations; president-court relations

    Countries and Regions

    • Latin America

    • Argentina

    • Brazil

    Memberships

    • Verfassungsblog | On Matters Constitutional, Member of Advisory Board of Das Justiz Projekt, 2025 - 2025
    • Journal of Politics in Latin America, Editor in chief, since 2021

    Awards

    • 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]

    Publications

    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

    GIGA Focus Latin America | 2/2025

    Latin America: Germany’s Indispensable Partner

    Trump’s disruptive policies could inadvertently provide the impetus to bring Europe and Latin America closer together. With smart policies, the incoming German government can leverage shared interests for a renewed partnership.

    Prof. Dr. Bert Hoffmann

    Dr. Jonas von Hoffmann

    Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

    Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

    Janaina Maldonado Guerra da Cunha

    Dr. Tomas Costa de Azevedo Marques

    Prof. Dr. Detlef Nolte

    Désirée Marlen Reder

    Dr. Samuel Siewers

    Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

    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

    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

    Government and Opposition | 2024

    Cabinet Reshuffles in Latin America: A Function of Presidential Reputation

    In this article we propose an innovative comparative analysis of cabinet reshuffles in Latin American presidential systems, focusing on personal incentives as drivers of ministerial turnover.

    Dr. Magna Inácio

    Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

    Bruno Pinheiro

    Research Projects

    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

    Research Project | 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

    Research Project | 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

    Research Project | 01/12/2018 - 30/06/2022

    Latin American Courts Going Public: Institutional Innovations for Social Participation in the Judicial Decision-Making Process

    Since two decades, constitutional and supreme courts in Latin America increasingly have been engaging with the public: for instance, they include the perspectives of civil society through public hearings or extensively use social media to inform about their work. This new court behavior stands in stark contrast to the traditional image of the judges as distant from the people and it could potentially have strong effects on the role of courts in the political system and the quality of democracy. This project is the first to investigate this phenomenon in a comparative perspective for all democratic Latin American countries.
    DFG, 2018-2022

    Media Contributions

    D+C | Expert Comment / Guest Contribution | 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. 

    Forum, Charles University Magazin | Interview | 11/06/2025

    From Argentina to Prague: Llanos on Democracy and ERA Chair

    On the ocassion of the launching of the ERA-Chair project at Charles University in Prague, Mariana Llanos shares her insights into Latin America’s political challenges, including autocratisation and populism, while highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary area studies and international academic cooperation. 

    Lectures

    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 | 26/08/2025 - 29/08/2025

    Courts between Law Enforcement and Rights Protection: Insights from the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile

    ECPR General Conference, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki Organisers: European Consortium for Political Research Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber (Speaker), Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos (Speaker), Pablo Pizarro Zúñiga (Speaker)

    GIGA researchers Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber and Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos present their paper "Prosecutors and Courts Between Law Enforcement and Rights Protection: Insights from the COVID-19-Pandemic in Chile" at the ECPR General Conference 2025. The presentation is part of the panel "Quantifying Judicial Impact: Selection, Process, and Authority".

    Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

    Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

    Pablo Pizarro Zúñiga

    Teaching

    Teaching | University of the Republic (UDELAR) | 2024

    Autocratización en el Sur Global

    University of the Republic (UDELAR) Montevideo Uruguay

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

    Teaching | University of Erfurt | 2024

    Autocratization in the Global South

    University of Erfurt Erfurt Germany

    University of Erfurt (2-hours per week)

    Teaching | University of Erfurt | 2024

    Democratic Institutions and Institutional Change. Comparative Perspectives from the Global South

    University of Erfurt Erfurt Germany

    Ma Course at the University of Erfurt, 2 hours per week.

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