vitaweb

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Political Science, The Ohio State University, March 2005.

Dissertation Title: The Politics of Taxation in Argentina and Brazil in the Last Twenty Years of the 20^th Century

Dissertation Committee: R. William Liddle (chair), Richard P. Gunther, and Marcus Kurtz

Dissertation Abstract:

I examine the causes of tax policy reforms in Argentina and Brazil during the 1980s and 1990s. The starting point is the analytical puzzle of tax policy reforms in an environment that makes them very unlikely. I differentiate these two cases by the direction and magnitude of change in three dimensions of tax policy: centralization, progressivity, and level. These taxation outcomes were a greater decentralization and decrease in progressivity in Brazil, but a greater increase in taxation level in Argentina. I demonstrate that an effective reduction in the number of veto players in both cases can help explain why policy change took place. Nevertheless, I show that their direction and magnitude of change differences can be explained by taking into consideration the prevailing interests of effective veto players: executive-national in Argentina vis-à-vis legislative-sub-national in Brazil.

M.A., Political Science, The Ohio State University, December 1999.

Major: Comparative Politics; Minor: Political Theory and Methodology

B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, May 1996 (Magna Cum Laude).

ACADEMIC POSITION HELD

Research Associate, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, The Ohio State University, Fall 2004 – present.

RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS

Comparative Politics, Political Economy of Taxation, Construction of Race (and its intersection), State Building, Latin American Politics, Politics of Development, and Democratization.

WORK IN PROGRESS

“Tax Policy Centralization and Veto Players: Argentina and Brazil in the 1980s & 1990s,” preparing for submission, Fall 2007.

“Tax Policy Progressivity and Veto Players: Argentina and Brazil in the 1980s & 1990s,” preparing for submission, Fall 2007.

“The Effect of Regional Cleavages within Racial Inclusionary Polities on Twentieth Century Income Taxation Outcomes: The Cases of Argentina and Brazil,” first draft, Spring 2006.

“Puerto Rico Through a Structural Racism Lens,” expected first draft, Fall 2006.

“Taxation Changes and Veto Players: Pooled Time Series Analysis of Latin American Cases,” expected first draft, Fall 2007.

BOOK REVIEW

Review of Who is White?: Latinos, Asians, and the New Black/Nonblack Divide., by George Yancey, CENTRO Journal, fall issue (vol. 18, no.2, 2006).

NON-PEER REVIEW PUBLICATIONS

Review of Who is White?: Latinos, Asians, and the New Black/Nonblack Divide, by George Yancey, The Kirwan UPdate, Fall 2005/Winter 2006, pp. 17-19.

with Melanie Maltry and Rebecca Millard. “UPdate Q&A: Structural Racism,” The Kirwan UPdate, Fall 2005/Winter 2006, pp. 2-3.

CONFERENCE PAPERS

“Puerto Rico Through a Structural Racism Lens,” to be presented at the 7^th Conference of the Puerto Rican Studies Association, Ithaca, NY, October 5-7, 2006.

“The Effect of Regional Cleavages within Racial Inclusionary Polities on Taxation Outcomes: The Cases of Argentina and Brazil,” presented at the

Midwest Political Science Association 2006 Conference, Chicago, IL, April 20-23, 2006,

XXVI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 15-18, 2006,

and Ohio Latinamericanist Conference, Columbus, OH, April 3, 2006.

“Latino/as’s Educational and Economic Opportunities in the U.S. Through a Structural Racism Lens,” presented at the Latino Law Summit 2005, Columbus, OH, October 20, 2005.

“Tax Policy Centralization and Veto Players: Argentina and Brazil in the 1980s & 1990s,” presented at the Midwest Political Science Association 2005 Conference, Chicago, IL, April 7-10, 2005.

“Tax Policy Reform and its Level of Centralization in Fragmented Polities: The Case of Argentina and Brazil,” presented at the 19^th International Political Science Association World Congress, Durban, South Africa, July 1, 2003 and at the 17^th Annual Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum, Columbus, OH, April 26, 2003.

“Tax Policy Decentralization in Fragmented Polities: The Case of Argentina and Brazil,” presented at the 16^th Annual Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum, Columbus, OH, April 20, 2002.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Panel Participant in the “Roundtable Discussion of Academic Job market Experiences,” at the XXVI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 15-18, 2006.

Panel Chair of “Nationalism, Trade, and Taxation: Argentina and Brazil,” at the Ohio Latinamericanist Conference, Columbus, OH, April 3, 2006.

Proctor for the Social and Behavioral Sciences section at the 18^th Annual Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum, Columbus, OH, April 17, 2004.

Panel Discussant for: “Federalism and Future Governance” at the 19^th International Political Science Association World Congress, Durban, South Africa, July 1, 2003.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, The Ohio State University, Summer 2004.

Research Assistant to Marcus Kurtz, Department of Political Science (gathering and categorizing trade data for Argentina and Chile 1990-2000), Summer 2002.

Invited Researcher, dissertation research at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (Buenos Aires DF, Argentina) and Universidade de Brasília (Brasília DF, Brasil), Fall 2001.

Research Assistant to Richard Gunther and Anthony Mughan, Department of Political Science (indexing their edited volume, Democracy and the Media: A Comparative Perspective), Spring 1999, Fall 1999, and Winter 2000.

Research Assistant to Richard Gunther, Department of Political Science (survey translation and preparation for cross-national data analysis), Winter 1999.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Instructor

· “Politics of Developing World,” Winter 2004.

· “Comparative Politics of Latin America,” Spring and Fall 2003.

· “Political Problems of the Contemporary World: Pursuing and Attaining Democratic Governance in the Third World,” Winter 2003.

· “Introduction to Comparative Politics,” Summer 2000 - Spring 2001, Spring 2002.

Teaching Assistant

· “Introduction to Comparative Politics,” Winter and Fall 1998.

· “Political Problems of the Contemporary World: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century,” Spring 1998.

· “Comparative Politics of Latin America,” Fall 1997.

· “Political Economy of Japan,” Spring 1997.

Guest Speaker

· “El País de Cuatro Pisos, by José Luis González,” reading aloud in Spanish event at the Main Library of The Ohio State University, Summer 2006.

· “Structural Racism,” lecture given at The Ohio State University to undergraduate students of a comparative politics course by Instructor Yusuf Sarfati, Spring 2006.

· with Denis R. Rhoden, Jr. “Latin@s in The U.S. through a Structural Racism Lens,” presented at What is it like to be Latin@/Hispanic in the U.S.? engagement, Columbus, OH, April 5, 2006.

· “Puerto Rican Identity,” lecture given at The Ohio State University to undergraduate students of a comparative studies course by Instructor Diana Ruggiero, Spring 2006.

· “The Effect of Regional Cleavages within Racial Inclusionary Polities on Taxation Outcomes: The Cases of Argentina and Brazil,” presented at the Kirwan Institute Brownbag Series, Columbus, OH, January 25, 2005.

· “Latino/as’s Educational and Economic Opportunities in the U.S. Through a Structural Racism Lens,” presented at the Kirwan Institute Brownbag Series, Columbus, OH, October 12, 2005.

· “Structural Racism: A problem, an outcome, an analytical approach, a cause, a consequence….?,” presented at the Kirwan Institute Brownbag Series, Columbus, OH, April 13, 2005.

· “Globalization, Taxation, and the State,” lecture given at The Ohio State University to undergraduate students of a Latin America and Globalization course by Professor Fernando Unzueta, Spring 2004.

· “Tax Policy Reform After Democratization in Argentina and Brazil,” presented in the Global Studies Seminar, Denison University, Grandville, OH, April 7, 2003.

· “The Brazilian Political System,” lecture given at Denison University to undergraduate students of an introductory comparative politics course by Professor James Pletcher, Winter 2003.

· “The Political Relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States,” lecture given to honors undergraduate students in Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil, as an invited lecturer for the Special Training Program, Spring 2000.

· “20^th Century Taxation in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay,” presented during the weekly faculty seminar series at the Department of Social Sciences, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil, Spring 2000.

· “Brazil’s Democratization Process,” lecture given at The Ohio State University to undergraduate students of a comparative politics course by Instructor Alison Rimsky, Winter 1998.

HONORS & AWARDS

Preparing Future Faculty Program, James Pletcher (mentor), Department of Political Science, Denison University, Winter and Spring 2003.

Preparing Future Faculty Program, Jeanne Hey (mentor), Department of Political Science, Miami University, Winter and Spring 2001.

Program for the Enhancement of Graduate Studies Travel Grant, Spring 2001, Winter and Spring 2003.

Program for the Enhancement of Graduate Studies Dissertation Writing Grant, Spring 2001 and 2002.

Graduate Student Alumni Research Award, Spring 2001.

Tinker Field Research Grant, Spring 2001.

Mershon Center Dissertation Research Grant, Spring 2001.

Madison H. Scott Grant for dissertation field research in Brazil, Spring 1999.

Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowship for studying Portuguese at the Ohio State University, Summer 1997.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP

American Political Science Association, Midwest Political Science Association, Latin American Studies Association, Puerto Rican Studies Association.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Spanish (native), English (fluent), Portuguese (fluent), Italian (good reading and listening skills), German (basics).

REFERENCES