Research

Political Representation and Democratic Inclusion

I study how electoral institutions, political parties, and informal political practices shape representation and political careers. My research focuses particularly on women’s political representation, gender quotas, candidate selection, political seniority, and party organization in Latin America.

Identity, Migration, and Political Attitudes

My research also examines how political identities and social boundaries influence attitudes and participation. Current work investigates attitudes toward Venezuelan migrants in Ecuador, including how perspective-taking and different representations of migrants shape attitudes among young people.

Principal investigator, project: “Attitudes towards Venezuelan migrants among the Ecuadorian youth: Challenging the criminalization of immigrants”. Project funded by the EGAP LATAM Regional Hub Small Grants Fund

Institutions, Indigenous Politics, and Legal Pluralism

A third area of my research examines the interaction between formal and informal institutions. This work includes research on Indigenous politics in Latin America, particularly the evolution of Ecuador’s Pachakutik movement and the relationship between Indigenous organizations, political parties, and the state. My current work studies Indigenous justice and legal pluralism in Ecuador, with particular attention to their consequences for democratic participation, political legitimacy, and the inclusion of Indigenous communities.

Publications

Books

• Dávila Gordillo, D., Enyedi, Z., & Kopecký, P. (forthcoming). Understanding Comparative Politics. Sage.

Peer-reviewed articles

• Dávila Gordillo, D., Timoneda, J. C., & Vallejo Vera, S. (2026). Machines Do See Color: Using LLMs to Classify Overt and Covert Racism in Text. Sociological Methods & Research. Advance online publication. doi

• Abad, A., Aldaz, R., Dávila Gordillo, D., & Vallejo Vera, S. (2022). Un deja-vu no esperado: la política ecuatoriana en 2021. Revista de Ciencia Política. doi

• Abad, A., Aldaz, R., Dávila Gordillo, D., & Vallejo Vera, S. (2021). Believe in Me: Parties’ Strategies During a Pandemic. Journal of Politics in Latin America, 13(3), 419–441. doi

Book chapters

• Dávila Gordillo, D., & Wylie, K. (2021). Party Leadership and Institutionalization in Latin America. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press. doi

• Dávila Gordillo, D., & Ragazzi, F. (2017). The Radicalisation Awareness Network: Producing the EU Counter-radicalisation Discourse. In S. Carrera & V. Mitsilegas (Eds.), Constitutionalising the Security Union: Effectiveness, Rule of Law and Rights in Countering Terrorism and Crime (pp. 54–63). Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS). PDF

Current working papers

• Participation, but on Their Own Terms: Indigenous Political Strategy and the Limits of Party Politics in Ecuador. Book chapter manuscript.

• Institutional Entrepreneurs: The Roots of Local Indigenous Organizations (with Christopher L. Carter)

• Seniority, Gender Quotas, Party Strategy, and Women Candidates (with Sebastian Vallejo Vera).

• Putting Yourself in Their Shoes: Perspective-taking to Foster Positive Attitudes Towards Venezuelan Migrants among Ecuadorian Youth (with Leila Demarest, Juan Masullo, and Katharina Natter).

• The Surprising New Votes for Pachakutik in 2021: Indigenous Voters and Segmented Mobilization Strategies. Working paper

Policy briefs and commentary

• Dávila Gordillo, D. (2025). Expert contribution to What Will Defeated Ballot Questions Mean for Ecuador? The Dialogue: Latin America Advisor. Inter-American Dialogue. PDF

• Dávila Gordillo, D. (2021). Elecciones presidenciales en el Ecuador: Flashback al pasado y un futuro incierto. Voz y Voto. Link

• Abad, A., Aldaz, R., Dávila Gordillo, D., & Vallejo Vera, S. (2021). Ecuador: cómo diferenciarse cuando compites con 16 candidatos. Agenda Pública. Link

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Teaching

I teach comparative politics, qualitative research methods, women’s political representation, political parties, democratization, and Latin American politics. I believe students learn political science best when they actively engage with political puzzles rather than simply memorize concepts. My courses encourage students to think comparatively, evaluate evidence critically, and connect theoretical ideas to contemporary political developments.

Current teaching at Leiden University

• Introduction to Comparative Politics
  Large first-year lecture course covering states, regimes, institutions, parties, representation, identity, and political participation.

• Bachelor Project: Women’s Representation
  Research seminar on women’s political ambition, candidate selection, gender quotas, descriptive and substantive representation, and political careers.

• Qualitative Methods
  Training in research design, case selection, interviewing, process tracing, interpretation, and qualitative analysis.

Previous teaching

Before returning to Leiden University, I taught at Lake Forest College, including:

• Introduction to Comparative Politics
• Women, Institutions, and Politics
• Latin American Politics

At Leiden, I have also taught courses and seminars on qualitative research methods, democracy in Latin America, party politics in Latin America, international security, and comparative political systems.

Teaching recognition

I received Leiden University Institute of Political Science Teaching Excellence Certificates in 2025 and 2026.

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Diplomacy

Human Rights in the Inter-American System

As Second Secretary Alternate Representative of Ecuador to the Organization of American States (OAS), I was assigned as principal negotiator of Inter-American Conventions on Human Rights and served as one of the Ecuadorian representatives at the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs (CAJP) of the OAS Permanent Council.

I was involved in the final negotiations of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance A-68, and the Inter-American Convention against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance A-69, which were negotiated at the same time.

Both conventions were adopted and opened for signature at the 2013 OAS General Assembly in Antigua, Guatemala. Ecuador signed both conventions during the General Assembly.

I was also involved in the negotiations of the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons, which was adopted in 2015 during the OAS General Assembly in Washington, D.C. Ecuador ratified the convention in March 2019.