PhD Position in Political Science: Militarization and Democratic Erosion in Latin America

About this position

The Department of Political Science is looking for a PhD candidate to work in the “ Doctoral Network Democratic Institutions and Violence Network in Europe ( DIViNE )” project, funded by the HORIZON MSCA action. The candidate will be supervised by Dr. Abbey Steele (University of Amsterdam) and Dr. Juan Masullo (University of Milan) and join a network of 10 PhD candidates across five universities. At the University of Amsterdam, the PhD candidate will be part of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) programme group Political Institutions and Identities (PII).

DIViNE brings together leading European research environments — UvA (Amsterdam), UESSEX (Essex), UMIL (Milan), UC3M (Carlos III de Madrid) and UU (Uppsala) — and partner organizations to combine complementary strengths in quantitative conflict research, behavioral and experimental methods, historical and archival inquiry, institutional and normative theory, and applied policy engagement .

Join us!

Democracies are commonly seen as able to channel contestation through institutionalized processes and nonviolent action. Yet, democratic polities frequently experience a broad range of political violence — from riots and organized electoral intimidation to extremist mobilization and criminal violence — and violence can test and, at times, erode democratic norms and institutions. Moreover, democracies themselves may respond to perceived threats with measures (e.g., militarized policing, emergency legislation, selective repression) that threaten to undermine core features of liberal democracy such as the rule of law, civil liberties and institutional impartiality.

The DIViNE Doctoral Network ( Democratic Institutions and Violence Network in Europe ) consolidates comparative, historical, theoretical and methodological strands to build a coherent new research program on political violence in democracies.

The position is part of WP3 on Dynamics of Support for Violent Movements and Responses, which examines how democracies respond to violence and how these responses shape democratic quality. Many democratic governments increasingly rely on militarized policing, emergency measures, and “iron-fist” security policies that may temporarily reduce insecurity, but potentially at the cost of weakened accountability and distorted institutional responsiveness and constraints. WP3 analyzes the micro-foundations of public support for repression , the institutional incentives behind securitized policies, and alternative strategies better aligned with democratic principles.

The PhD project, Militarization, Public Support, and Democratic Erosion in Latin America , examines the interplay between public support for militarized security , institutional legacies of civil–military relations, and democratic erosion. It investigates when and why citizens endorse the use of armed forces for domestic security, how exposure to violence and distrust in civilian institutions shape these preferences, and how public opinion interacts with institutional militarization and executive aggrandizement. Empirical work will combine survey experiments , cross-national quantitative analysis (drawing on datasets such as LAPOP, V-Dem, and Latinobarómetro), and qualitative fieldwork in selected Latin American contexts.

The project will contribute to understanding how coercive governance becomes normalized and how democratic quality is affected by persistent militarization.

The candidate will divide their training between Amsterdam and Milan, acquiring expertise in mixed-methods research, Latin American politics, conflict analysis, and survey experimentation. The doctoral trajectory also includes a three-month non-academic secondment at Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli in Milan, which will develop skills in policy outreach, public communication, and engagement with human rights and security-sector organizations. The PhD will begin in February 2027.

For more information about the network, consult https://divine.unimi.it/

What are you going to do

You will:

be affiliated with the AISSR and participate in its organized PhD training. The academic work is to result in a doctoral thesis that will be defended at the Faculty of Social Sciences with the goal of obtaining the degree of PhD.

conduct PhD research on militarization, public support for militarized security, and democratic erosion in Latin America, including survey experiments, cross-national quantitative analysis, and qualitative fieldwork;

co-author publications with other project members;

take active part in DIViNE training network activities including network training modules, PhD colloquia, research workshops, secondments, and training workshops;

take active part in the research environment at the AISSR, including PII research seminars and AISSR center activities, among others;

during your time in Milan, take active part in the research environment at MiCoRes, including research seminars and workshops, among others;

teach Bachelor-level courses, depending upon availability and as suitable for the PhD schedule (for a max. of 10%).

assist with administrative responsibilities related to the project, such as the organization of workshops, conferences, or other project events.

make Amsterdam (or a location within commuting distance) your primary residence for the duration of the PhD project, with research and training stays in Milan and fieldwork in Latin America. We will assist with finding adequate housing and with applying for visa and residence permits.

What do you have to offer

You have the following credentials:

Essential:

a Master’s degree or equivalent in political science or closely related discipline. The degree must have been obtained by the start of your employment;

excellent command of social science research methods, including quantitative (e.g., regression analysis of survey and cross-national data, causal inference design, statistical programming) and qualitative method