Thomas Mustillo
Assistant Professor
Phone number: 317-278-3197
Office number: CA 503A

Tom Mustillo joined the department in 2007. He received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007. He teaches Introduction to Comparative Politics, Latin American Politics, Elements of Political Analysis, and Introduction to International Relations.

His major sub-field is Comparative Politics, and his research interests include democracy and democratization, political representation and political parties, and health and education policy. He specializes in Latin America, but has broad interest in the developing world. His dissertation is entitled, “Entrants in the Political Arena: New Party Trajectories in Latin America During the Third Wave of Democracy.” It analyzes new political parties and explains what distinguishes successful new parties from failed ones in party systems which are widely considered to be weak and unstable. He conducted field research in Ecuador with funding from the Organization of American States for this project. His article “Electoral Governance Matters: Explaining the Quality of Elections in Contemporary Latin America” (with Jonathan Hartlyn and Jennifer McCoy) is forthcoming in Comparative Political Studies and his article “Politics and Social Spending in Latin America” (with Evelyne Huber and John D. Stephens) is forthcoming in the Journal of Politics.

He received a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Notre Dame. Following undergraduate studies, he was bilingual Spanish teacher in the Houston Public Schools with Teach For America. He has traveled extensively in Latin America. In 2004, he served as a member of the Carter Center electoral observation delegation for the petition drive and recall election of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. He lives in West Lafayette with his wife and two children.

Curriculum Vitae

Contact Thomas Mustillo.