Kenneth Roberts

About

Kenneth M. Roberts is the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government at Cornell University. He earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University, specializing in comparative and Latin American politics. His teaching and research interests focus on democracy and the political economy of development, with particular emphasis on the politics of inequality. Much of his published work explores the intersection of political parties, social movements, and populism, especially in Latin America and beyond. His recent book is the co-edited 'Democratic Resilience: Can the United States Withstand Rising Polarization,' published by Cambridge University Press. Roberts has also authored 'Changing Course in Latin America: Party Systems in the Neoliberal Era' and 'Deepening Democracy? The Modern Left and Social Movements in Chile and Peru,' among other publications.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Computer Science
• Law
• Computer Security
• Sociology
• Gender studies
• Development economics
• Public administration
• Political economy
• Economics

Selected publications

• Populism and Polarization in Comparative Perspective: Constitutive, Spatial and Institutional Dimensions

  Government and Opposition · 2021-06-07 · 105 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Polarization may be the most consistent effect of populism, as it is integral to the logic of constructing populist subjects. This article distinguishes between constitutive, spatial and institutional dimensions of polarization, adopting a cross-regional comparative perspective on different subtypes of populism in Europe, Latin America and the US. It explains why populism typically arises in contexts of low political polarization (the US being a major, if partial, outlier), but has the…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Inclusionary Turn in Latin American Democracies

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2021 · 74 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Latin American states took dramatic steps toward greater inclusion during the late twentieth and early twenty-first Centuries. Bringing together an accomplished group of scholars, this volume examines this shift by introducing three dimensions of inclusion: official recognition of historically excluded groups, access to policymaking, and resource redistribution. Tracing the movement along these dimensions since the 1990s, the editors argue that the endurance of democratic politics, combined with…

  DOI

• Crises of Representation and Populist Challenges to Liberal Democracy

  Chinese Political Science Review · 2019-02-12 · 65 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Bipolar Disorders: Varieties of Capitalism and Populist Out-Flanking on the Left and Right

  Polity · 2019-09-26 · 57 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• (AÚN) LA EXCEPCIÓN Y NO LA REGLA: LA DERECHA POPULISTA RADICAL EN AMÉRICA LATINA

  Revista Uruguaya de Ciencia Política · 2021-06-10 · 25 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Undoubtedly, populist radical right parties (rpps) represent the largest family of populist parties. However, in the 18 countries that make up the South American subcontinent, only two leaders seem to fully embody this ideology: Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and José Antonio Kast in Chile. The aim of this article is to examine the reasons behind the scarce proliferation of PRRs in Latin America. In Western Europe the emergence of these parties is related to a sort of silent counter-revolution (Ingleh…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Eric M. Uslaner

  25 shared

• Giiillermo Owen

  University of Otago

  25 shared

• Gerald A. Strom

  Case Western Reserve University

  25 shared

• Nathaniel Katz Beck

  University of Washington

  25 shared

• Comment Bachrach

  University of Otago

  25 shared

• John Turner

  25 shared

• Gordon Tullock

  George Mason University

  25 shared

• Mary B. Welfling

  25 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Political Science

  Stanford University

  1992

Awards & honors

• Fulbright scholar at Universidad Carlos III-Instituto Juan M…
• Fulbright scholar at Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias So…
• visiting fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princ…
• visiting fellow of the Centre on Social Movement Studies at…
• visiting fellow of the Stone Center for Latin American Studi…

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