Kyong Mazzaro, Ph.D. Candidate

kmazzaro@gradcenter.cuny.edu

City University of New York

City: New York, New York

Country: United States

Research Interests

Comparative Democratization

Latin American And Caribbean Politics

Elections, Election Administration, and Voting Behavior

Media Freedom

Political Violence

Electoral Politics

Countries of Interest

Venezuela

Brazil

Mexico

Chile

Colombia

Publications:

Journal Articles:

(2020) Orchestrating silence, winning the votes: Explaining variation in media freedom during elections, Electoral Studies

Restrictions on media freedom play a prominent role in the survival of incumbents in hybrid regimes. But while scholars agree that governments limit media freedom to punish opponents and mobilize supporters, less is known about the electoral incentives that explain the timing and location of restrictions. Using original microdata on government attempts to prevent the dissemination of information from Venezuela (2002–2015), I show that electoral competition at the local and national levels shape patterns of government-led restrictions on media freedom. At the local level, I find that differences in the opposition's strength incentivize governments to use restrictions to demobilize opponents where they are strongest, target marginal districts during local elections, and maintain dominance in their strongholds. At the national level, I show that as threats to the government party's primacy increase, so does the effect of local electoral competition on the hazard of restrictions.

(2018) Crime and the Construction of Political Order in Latin America, Latin American Politics and Society

Although the state’s failure to claim the monopoly on the use of force clearly contributes to the persistence of crime, a growing number of scholars show that state-centric accounts obscure a wide range of state and nonstate actors involved in the production and control of violence. From cases of collaboration between armed actors and state officials to arrangements between communities and authorities, there is mounting evidence that the construction of political order in Latin America defies neat divisions between state and society. The four books discussed in this review address the questions of whether and how crime and ideas of crime shape political order. While the studies differ in their methods and focus—the first set emphasizing the role of criminal groups and the second that of policing—they all depart from foundational state-centric accounts. By examining the link between state-society dynamics and broader patterns of violence, policing, and notions of public order in Latin America and the Caribbean, these scholars break new ground. The goal in this essay is to synthesize their findings while taking each piece on its own terms.