Steven Levitsky

Steven Levitsky is an American professor and author who is renowned for his work in Latin American politics and comparitive politics. He currently serves as the David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government at Harvard University. Levitsky has published numerous books on the topic of political change, democratization and authoritarianism, factionalism and populism in Latin America and beyond. His current research focuses on the decisions of Latin American leaders and their consequences on the citizens of the respective countries they govern.

Born in 1975, Steven Levitsky studied at the Joint Program between Brandeis University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, receiving a BA in Near Eastern and Judaic studies followed by his Master’s degree in Development Economics from the University of California, San Diego in 1999. He then went on to complete his MA and PhD in political science from Stanford University in 2001 and 2003, respectively.

Levitsky is widely recognized for his work. He has received numerous awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2014 and has twice been named a William Hector Fellow by Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs in 2004 and 2006 and was granted a residency grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in 2009.

Throughout his career Levitsky has written numerous books, themed by the changing dynamics of the politics in Latin America. His first book, Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America, written with James Sinia, explored the changes in Latin American labor-based parties between the 1960s and 1990s and the implications this had on their respective countries.

Levitsky is also the coauthor of Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War, which studies the rise of authoritarian states during the post-Cold War period. It argues that these states are not immediately democratic, yet they are neither “normal” dictatorships. Levitsky and his coauthor, Lucan Way, term this phenomenon “competitive authoritarianism” and demonstrate how this new way of ruling is increasingly gaining traction.

The two authors also wrote the book, Competitive Clientelism: Political Proceses in Postindustrial Democracies, that looks at the prevalence of clientelism and its implication for government systems in democracies where social services are privatized. The book analyzes the powerful influence of clientelism in countries such as Mexico and Brazil and the subsequently damaging consequences for democracy.

Levitsky’s most recent book is the 2018 publication, How Democracies Die, written with Daniel Ziblatt. In the work, the two authors draw from their personal experiences to analyse how successful democracies in Europe, South America and beyond have crumbled due to abuse of power by their respective political figures. They also draw upon their data to analyze the success rates of democracies around the world and show how eroding financial resources, media manipulation and brittle political systems can all easily lead to democratic breakdown.

Steven Levitsky’s academic and written work has been incredibly influential, redrawing the face of political science as we know it and fostering an important dialogue about democratic responsibility and stability. Levitsky has continued to be an important figure in the field, participating in discussions on Latin American politics and other topics in seminars, conferences and television debates. He is one of the most esteemed political figures in Latin American politics and the international academic landscape alike.