Sebastián L. Mazzuca

Sebastián L. Mazzuca is an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University, specializing in Political Science with a focus on political economy, comparative politics, and Latin American studies. He holds a PhD and MA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MA in Economics from the same institution. His postdoctoral work included a fellowship at Harvard University’s Academy for International and Area Studies.

His research emphasizes state formation, regime change, and economic development in Latin America. Notable works include Latecomer State Formation: Political Geography and Capacity Failure in Latin America (Yale UP, 2021) and co-authored A Middle-Quality Institutional Trap (Cambridge UP, 2020). His articles explore themes like institutional legacies, democratization, and the political economy of development, published in top journals such as the American Political Science Review and Comparative Politics.

Mazzuca’s scholarship bridges historical analysis and contemporary political dynamics, often examining how historical state-building processes influence modern governance and economic outcomes. His work frequently critiques simplistic narratives of democratization and emphasizes the interplay between institutional quality and socio-economic development.