Thursday, November 6, 2025
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EST
Democracy is in crisis in the Americas, as it is around the world. Simultaneously, the rule of law has been and remains weak in the region. How are these phenomena related, how are they distinct, and what does regression in both ideals mean for political, economic, and social futures of the Americas? The Georgetown Americas Institute (GAI) and the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) are pleased to present a panel discussion including an exceptional set of thought leaders from the United States and Latin America to consider these crucial questions. The event is one aspect of a CLAS-GAI joint research initiative Democracy in the Americas, which seeks to identify the contours, causes, and consequences of democratic erosion in the hemisphere.
This event is sponsored by the Georgetown Americas Institute, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Americas Forum, the Georgetown Democracy Initiative, and Center for the Advancement of the Rule of Law in the Americas at Georgetown University.
Featuring
Azul America Aguiar Aguilar is a full-time professor of political science at ITESO, the Jesuit University of Guadalajara and a lecturer at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. Since 2014, she has been recognized as a member of the National System of Researchers, level II (2025 to 2029). She teaches courses and has supervised theses at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels. Her research interests include comparative judicial politics and democratization processes. She is the author of the book Legal Culture, Sociopolitical Origins, and Professional Careers of Judges in Mexico (Palgrave 2024). Her main publications appear in indexed journals, edited books, and as chapters in specialized books. She is summer schools coordinator and member of the Executive Committee of the International Political Science Association (2025 to 2027) and president of the Mexican Association of Political Science (2025 to 2027).
Fernando Bizzarro is an assistant professor of political science at Boston College. He works on the nature, causes, and consequences of democracy and political parties in Latin America. Originally from Brazil, he holds a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University. He is currently writing a book on the causes of democratic stagnation in contemporary Latin America.
Claudio Fuentes is full professor at the School of Political Science at Diego Portales University (UDP). He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the current director of the Institute for Social Science Research (ICSO) atUDP. He holds a degree in history from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. His research agenda has focused on understanding the sociopolitical dynamics of institutional change, including the use of force in democratic contexts, constitutional reforms, and the legal status of indigenous peoples. Currently, his work focuses on studying the dynamics of bureaucratic-organizational change in police forces. He is an associate researcher at the Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Studies (CIIR) and alternate director of the ANID-Exploration project on police legitimacy.
David Landau holds the Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University College of Law and also serves as the College of Law's associate dean for international programs. He holds an A.B., J.D., and Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University. His scholarship focuses on constitutional design, constitutional theory, and comparative constitutional law. Landau’s recent work has focused on a range of issues with contemporary salience both in the United States and elsewhere around the world, including constitutional change and constitution-making, judicial role and the enforcement of rights, impeachment, and the erosion of democracy.
Michael Shifter is an adjunct professor at the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University and former president of the Inter-American Dialogue. Shifter held senior positions at the Dialogue for nearly three decades and served 12 years as president; he currently serves as senior fellow at the organization. Prior to joining the Inter-American Dialogue, Shifter directed the Latin American and Caribbean program at the National Endowment for Democracy and, before that, the Ford Foundation’s governance and human rights program in the Andean region