Isabel Laterzo-Tingley, Ph.D.

LBJ School of Public Affairs, UT-Austin

Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and the Department of Government (by courtesy). I am also a faculty associate of the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS). I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

My work spans comparative political behavior, political representation, and political economy across the Americas, including in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. I predominantly focus on policing and (in)security, and also have research on public health, housing, and democracy. I employ a methodologically diverse toolkit, such as survey experiments, text analysis, intensive fieldwork, and causal inference techniques.

My book project – Uniformed Representation: The Electoral Rise of Law Enforcement Officers in Democratic Brazil – focuses on the political representation of law enforcement officials. This draws on a multi-method analysis, including over 110 interviews with law enforcement officials, political candidates, activists, government officials, among others. This project received the 2025 Best Dissertation in Human Rights Award from the American Political Science Association (APSA). A paper related to this project has received the SPSA Best Graduate Student Paper Award (2023) and an honorable mention for the QMMR Qualitative Evidence Award (2025).

My research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, such as Comparative Political Studies, Research & Politics, the Journal of Criminal Justice, and the Journal of Politics in Latin America and has been referenced by news outlets such as O Estado de São Paulo, A Folha de São Paulo, and El Diaro de Júarez. I have written popular press pieces for The Washington Post and Lawfare. My work has been supported by the H.F. Guggenheim Foundation, Fulbright-Hays, the U.S. Department of State, and USAID, among other organizations. In my free time, I love being outside with my dog, a pitbull/chihuahua mix.