Natália Aguiar, Ph.D. Candidate

nataliaguiar.cs@gmail.com

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

City: Belo Horizonte

Country: Brazil

About Me:

I am a PhD Candidate and hold a Master degree in Political Science, holding also a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences. I am academically interested in social and political inequalities, political institutions and voting behaviour. I focus my researches on the many possible consequences of the compulsory voting law. I am also attracted to methodological learning as a means to develop accurate research in Social Sciences. Personally I am interested in empowering women and also in the diverse conceptions of science. I am also part of a science communication group of podcast called "Dragões de Garagem" (Dragons of Garage).

Research Interests

Elections, Election Administration, and Voting Behavior

Public Opinion

Political Participation

Comparative Political Institutions

Latin American And Caribbean Politics

Compulsory Voting

Abstention

Elections And Turnout

Countries of Interest

Brazil

My Research:

In my master's thesis I have investigated the democratic dimensions of the compulsory voting law in Brazil, especially in what concerns to the equality of participation among different social groups. It was based on quantitative methodology and used structural equation modeling in order to provide some insight into the mechanisms by which socioecnomic status impact whether people vote or abstain. I am currently investigating whether and how such institution influences the quality of the voting process. As there is no consensus on the definition of quality concerning voting, my aim is also identifying core conceptions of it in order to propose ways to operationalize its distinct approaches.

Publications:

Journal Articles:

(2019) VOLUNTARY VOTING AND REINFORCEMENT OF INEQUALITIES IN BRAZIL: SUPPORT FOR RACIAL QUOTAS AND NON-ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION AMONG UNWILLING VOTERS, Teoria & Pesquisa

Literature indicates that compulsory voting laws raise turnout rates and reduce socioeconomic and demographic systematic inequalities among voters and non-voters. However, some authors argue that electoral absence is a sign of citizens’ criticism toward representative democracy, which would lead them to look for non- electoral forms of political participation. In this sense, skills developed through civic activism would be important to overcome constraints provoked by socioeconomic inequalities to political activism. Besides, it is argued that despite turnout inequalities, political attitudes concerning the support for specific public policies are well represented by those who vote. This paper investigates whether such arguments can be applied to the Brazilian case and questions: if voting were voluntary in Brazil, would the expected absentees be critical citizens concerning representative democracy and, therefore, would they prefer alternative options of political participation? Furthermore, in spite of the socioeconomic inequalities among voters and absentees, can we expect the support for the policy of racial quotas to be equally represented? Our analysis is based on quantitative methodology and our data is provided by the 2014 Brazilian Electoral Study. Our results suggest that the expected voluntary voters are the same citizens who are politically engaged in non-electoral activities and oppose racial quotas, which precisely assist people from racial groups who are less likely to vote voluntarily. Therefore, existent social inequalities among voters and non-voters are expected to be reinforced since they would be present at other arenas of political participation and are related to the support for a specific public policy. (WRITTEN IN PORTUGUESE)