LAPOP

The College of Arts and Science has launched the Center for Global Democracy, a premier social science institute dedicated to pioneering research and innovation in democratic politics around the world. Noam Lupu, professor of political science, directs the new center. Read More

Mitchell A. Seligson, Centennial Professor of Political Science, professor of sociology, emeritus, and founder of the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) Lab died June 1, 2024, in New York City. He was 78. Read More

A simmering discontent with democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean is creating opportunities for politicians with undemocratic plans, according to a comprehensive survey released Nov. 29 by Vanderbilt University’s LAPOP Lab. Read More

New research experience will expose undergraduates to diverse career paths and provide graduate-level training, mentoring and professional networking in the social sciences. This is the first year of a three-year program in the Department of Political Science. Read More

Vanderbilt’s LAPOP Lab is the premier academic institution carrying out surveys of public opinion in the Americas. Read More

A nine-day intensive training hosted by LAPOP provided students, postdocs, faculty and policymakers with skills to conduct trustworthy, reliable surveys in international settings. Read More

Globally, at least 60% of countries proposed remote learning options that rely only on online platforms, but approximately 47% of students cannot connect to the internet from their homes. This Insights report analyzes factors affecting perceptions of government-provided distance learning during the pandemic. Read More

Women’s autonomy is a multi-dimensional concept that includes the ability to participate in economic and familial decisions, be involved in a community, and be free from actual or threatened violence. Under this definition, protests against femicide functionally demand greater women’s autonomy. This Insights report seeks to understand key predictors of support for women’s autonomy to better understand the context in which protests for greater autonomy occur. Read More

Democracy is still struggling in the Americas, with citizens reporting high skepticism about electoral democracy, according to the newly released 2021 Pulse of Democracy report from Vanderbilt University’s LAPOP Lab. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt's Latin American Public Opinion Project Lab have found that when faced with the COVID-19 health crisis, Haitians rallied around their president, despite his struggle to maintain order and support prior to the pandemic. Read More

The Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization continued to play a pivotal role in translating the research findings of Vanderbilt faculty into products and companies in 2020 that have the potential to transform many aspects of life, from disease prevention to quality of life-enhancing products. Read More

Vanderbilt University and AmericasBarometer, a public opinion survey on democracy and governance run by the Latin American Public Opinion Project, were cited in the recent Ecuadorian presidential debate. Read More

Read about the latest faculty, staff and student awards, appointments and achievements. Read More

Americans may be much more receptive to refugee settlement in the United States than current government immigration policies suggest, according to a new study by Mariano Sana, associate professor of sociology and a faculty affiliate of Vanderbilt’s influential Latin American Public Opinion Project. Read More

The Latin American Public Opinion Project's efforts never stopped when Vanderbilt closed labs in mid-March due to COVID-19. Instead, director Elizabeth Zechmeister’s team pivoted to exclusively remote work and tackled the monumental task of overhauling research protocols to acquire data that reveals new insights about the pandemic’s effects on democracy. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Latin American Public Opinion Project has received a $10 million, five-year USAID grant to support its influential AmericasBarometer survey and related activities. Read More

Faculty have been named to a new subcommittee formed by the Vanderbilt University Research Council to provide governance for the GlobalVU initiative. Read More

Democracy is struggling for support in the Americas, according to the 2018/19 AmericasBarometer report, with just over half of all citizens expressing faith in the system for the second survey period in a row. “When citizen support for democracy is weak, it becomes difficult for nations to sustain free… Read More

Faculty members Noam Lupu, Karla McKanders and Lisa Fazio were recently awarded funding through the Global Research and Engagement Micro-Grant program to conduct international research and outreach. Read More

Elizabeth Zechmeister and Noam Lupu will study the role that messaging app WhatsApp plays in the spread of political misinformation and public opinion in Latin America. Read More