Santiago Anria is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Labor and Work at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. His research examines the relationships between social movements, labor unions, and political parties in Latin America. It has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including World Development, Politics & Society, Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, Studies in Comparative International Development, and Latin American Politics and Society, among others.
His first book, When Movements Become Parties: The Bolivian MAS in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics, 2018), examines the internal politics of parties formed by union movements. Santiago's most recent book, Polarization and Democracy: Latin America After the Left Turn, co-authored with Kenneth M. Roberts (The University of Chicago Press, 2026), provides a new perspective on the causes and consequences of political polarization in Latin America. He is also working on a research project that investigates how social movements shape the entrenchment of policies aimed at reducing social inequalities.
Santiago received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015. He has held fellowships at Harvard University (2021-22) and Tulane University (2015-17).
Publications
Books
- . (2026). Polarization and Democracy. The University of Chicago Press.
- . (2018). When Movements Become Parties: The Bolivian MAS in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge University Press, Studies in Comparative Politics Series.
Journal Articles
- . (2022). Empowering Inclusion? The Two Sides of Party-Society Linkages in Latin America. Studies in Comparative International Development, 57, 410-432.
- . (2021). Agents of Representation: The Organic Connection between Society and Leftist Parties in Bolivia and Uruguay. Politics and Society, 50(3), 384-412.
- . (2019). The Participatory Politics of Social Policies: The Cases of Bolivia and Brazil. Latin American Politics and Society, 61(Special Issue 2), 115-1377.
- . (2017). Inside Revolutionary Parties: Coalition-Building and Maintenance in Reformist Bolivia. Comparative Political Studies, 50(9), 1255-87.
- . (2016). Delegative Democracy Revisited: More Inclusion, Less Liberalism in Bolivia. Journal of Democracy, 27(3), 99-108.
- . (2016). Democratizing Democracy? Civil Society and Party Organization in Bolivia. Comparative Politics, 48(4), 459-78.
- . (2016). Social Movements and Social Policy: The Bolivian Renta Dignidad. Studies in Comparative International Development, 51(3), 308-327.
- . (2013). Social Movements, Party Organization, and Populism: Insights from the Bolivian MAS. Latin American Politics and Society, 55(3), 19-46.
An insightful examination of Latin America’s contemporary democratic landscape and how it is marked by patterns of polarization and volatility.
Through a comparative analysis of seven South American countries, Santiago Anria and Kenneth M. Roberts trace the different origins and trajectories in power of the populist and social democratic currents that emerged within the left turn. Anria and Roberts argue that today’s democratic orders face intensifying polarization and institutional fragility, even where social democratic parties made explicit efforts to build broad coalitions and temper political conflict. They show how activist networks and social movements on the left and the right triggered latent political conflicts and are now reshaping democratic competition and the terms of social inclusion in South American politics.
