Ezequiel González Ocantos
(Ph.D. (Notre Dame); MPhil, BA Hons (Cambridge))
I am the Associate Professor in the Qualitative Study of Comparative Political Institutions in the Department of Politics and International Relations, and a Professorial Fellow of Nuffield College. In 2018 I received the Philip Leverhulme Prize in Politics and International Relations. I currently serve as Director of Research Training (Politics).
My primary research agenda is in the field of comparative judicial politics, with a regional focus on Latin America. I've wirtten about judicial behaviour and strategic litigation in human rights cases, transitional justice, transnational judicial dialogue in the Inter-American Human Rights System, and the relationship between courts and public opinion. I am the author of Shifting Legal Visions: Judicial Change and Human Rights Trials in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2016) which won the Herman Pritchett Best Book Award from APSA's Law and Courts Section; the best book award from ISA's Human Rights Section; and the Donna Lee Van Cott Best Book Award from LASA's Political Institutions Section. A second, shorter book on a similar topic, The Politics of Transitional Justice in Latin America: Power, Norms and Capability Building, will be published in January 2020 by Cambridge University Press.
I am currently working on a new project in the field of judicial politics that examines the causes and consequences of anti-corruption judicial crusades in Latin America, comparing different national chapters of the Lava Jato investigation. The first paper from this project was recently published as part of a special issue of the Taiwan Journal of Democracy.
In addition to my work on courts, I've written chapters and articles on the political economy of vote buying and electoral intimidation, and also on qualitative methods.
My articles have appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, International Studies Quarterly, Law & Society Review, Journal of Peace Research, and Sociological Methods & Research, among others.
I recieved my Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 2012. My thesis won APSA's 2013 Edward S. Corwin Award for the best doctoral dissertation in the field of Public Law.
Curriculum vitae: Download Gonzalezocantos Online Cv (70.5KB)
Research Interests
Comparative Judicial Politics
Human Rights
Transitional Justice
Corruption
Comparative Politics of Latin America
Qualitative Methods in Political Science
Human rights Constitutions and Government Democracy and Democratisation Elections Institutions and organisationsTeaching
Advanced Qualitative Methods
Comparative Government
I am happy to supervise students interested in comparative judicial politics, human rights, electoral corruption, qualitative methods and Latin American politics
Publications
Books:
Best Book Award, International Studies Association, Human Rights Section (2018)
H. Pritchett Best Book Award, American Political Science Association, Law and Courts Section (2017)
Donna Lee Van Cott Best Book Award, Latin American Studies Association, Political Institutions Section (2017)
2020. The Politics of Transitional Justice in Latin America: Power, Norms, and Institutional Change (Elements in Politics and Society in Latin America, Cambridge University Press)
Peer-reviewed articles:
Forthcoming. "Process Tracing and the Problem of Missing Data," in Sociological Methods and Research (with Jody LaPorte)
2020. “Carrots and Sticks: Experimental Evidence of Vote Buying and Voter Intimidation in Guatemala” in Journal of Peace Research (with Carlos Meléndez, Chad Kiewiet de Jonge, Javier Osorio and David Nickerson)
2019. "Compensation and Compliance: Sources of Public Acceptance of the UK Supreme Court's Brexit Decision" in Law & Society Review, 53(3): 889-919 (with Elias Dinas)
2019. "Lava Jato Beyond Borders: The Uneven Performance of Anti-Corruption Judicial Efforts in Latin America," in Taiwan Journal of Democracy, 15(1): 63-89 (with Viviana Baraybar-Hidalgo), special issue on anti-corruption politics
2018. "Communicative Entrepreneurs: The Case of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' Dialogue with National Judges" in International Studies Quarterly, 62(4): 737-750
2018. "Remittances and Vote Buying: Experimental Evidence from El Salvador," in Latin American Research Review, 53(4): 789-707 (with Chad Kiewiet de Jonge and Covadonga Meseguer)
2016. "Evaluations of Human Rights Trials and Trust in Judicial Institutions: Evidence from Fujimori’s Trial in Peru," in The International Journal of Human Rights, 20(4): 445-470
2015. "Legitimacy Buying: The Dynamics of Clientelism in the Face of Legitimacy Challenges," in Comparative Political Studies, 48(9):1127-1158 (with Chad Kiewiet de Jonge and David Nickerson)
2014. "Persuade Them or Oust Them: Crafting Judicial Change and Transitional Justice in Argentina," in Comparative Politics, 46(4):279-298
2014. "The Conditionality of Vote Buying Norms: Experimental Evidence from Latin America," in American Journal of Political Science, 58(1):197-211 (with Chad Kiewiet de Jonge and David Nickerson)
2012. "Vote Buying and Social Desirability Bias: Experimental Evidence from Nigaragua," in American Journal of Political Science, 56(1):202-217 (with Chad Kiewiet de Jonge, Carlos Melendez, Javier Osorio and David Nickerson)
Book chapters:
Forthcoming. “Designing Qualitative Research Projects: Notes on Theory Building, Case Selection, and Field Research,” in L. Curini and R. Franzese Jr. eds. SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations.Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Forthcoming. “Electoral Fraud,” in E. Posada-Carbó & A. Robertson eds. The Oxford Handbook of Revolutionary Elections in the Americas. Oxford: Oxford University Press (with Svitlana Chernykh)
2019. "Courts in Latin American Politics," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press
2019. "Clientelism in Latin American Politics," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press (with Virginia Oliveros)
2017. “Political Clientelism,” in W. Outhwaite & S. Turner eds. The SAGE Handbook of Political Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE (with Paula Muñoz)
2015. “Dependencia y Autonomía,” in M. D’Alessandro & G. Ippolito-O’Donnell eds. La ciencia política de Guillermo O’Donnell. Buenos Aires, Argentina: EUDEBA
2010. “Crisis de gobernabilidad en América Latina: Juegos verticales y horizontales,” in F. Barrero & S. Jost eds. Estabilidad democrática en América Latina: Equilibrio de poderes, perspectivas teóricas. Bogotá, Colombia: Fondo Editorial de la Universidad Sergio Arboleda. (with Carlos Meléndez)
Commissioned academic reports:
2016. Informe Especial sobre Libertad del Sufragio en Mexico. Mexico: Institito Nacional Electoral (with Chad Kiewiet de Jonge and Javier Osorio)
2013. Avances y obstáculos en el juzgamiento de graves violaciones de derechos humanos y crímenes internacionales en América Latina. Informe presentado a la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos en audiencia temática regional durante el 149 período de sesiones.(with Due Process of Law Foundation, Instituto de Defensa Legal, FESPAD, Centro de Derechos Humanos Universidad Diego Portales, and Fundación Myrna Mack)
2012. Aproximación a las percepciones de la ciudadanía sobre la compra de votos y la intimidación de votantes en el régimen político guatemalteco. Cdad. de Guatemala, Guatemala: National Democratic Institute. (with Carlos Meléndez, Chad Kiewiet de Jonge, Javier Osorio and David Nickerson)
Working papers:
"Constructing a Regional Human Rights Legal Order: The Inter-American Court, National Courts, and Judicial Dialogue" (with Wayne Sandholtz), under review
“Conceptualizing and Measuring Legal Cultures: Evidence from a Survey of Mexican Judges” (with Karina Ansolabehere and Sandra Botero), under review
"Fighting Corruption, Curbing Cynicism? The Public Opinion Effects of Anti-Corruption Judicial Activism in Latin America" (with Nara Pavao)
"Defending the European Court of Human Rights: What Arguments Work?" (with Elias Dinas), under review
“International Law and Domestic Judicial Power: Strategic Citation in the Jurisprudence of Colombia’s Constitutional Court” (with Niels Goet)