Beatriz Magaloni

Bio

Beatriz Magaloni is the Graham Stuart Professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science. Magaloni is also a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute, where she holds affiliations with the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). She is also a Stanford’s King Center for Global Development faculty affiliate. Magaloni has taught at Stanford University for over two decades.

She leads the Poverty, Violence, and Governance Lab (Povgov). Founded by Magaloni in 2010, Povgov is one of Stanford University’s leading impact-driven knowledge production laboratories in the social sciences. Under her leadership, Povgov has innovated and advanced a host of cutting-edge research agendas to reduce violence and poverty and promote peace, security, and human rights.

Magaloni’s work has contributed to the study of authoritarian politics, poverty alleviation, indigenous governance, and, more recently, violence, crime, security institutions, and human rights. Her first book, Voting for Autocracy: Hegemonic Party Survival and its Demise in Mexico (Cambridge University Press, 2006) is widely recognized as a seminal study in the field of comparative politics. It received the 2007 Leon Epstein Award for the Best Book published in the previous two years in the area of political parties and organizations, as well as the Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association’s Comparative Democratization Section. Her second book The Politics of Poverty Relief: Strategies of Vote Buying and Social Policies in Mexico (with Alberto Diaz-Cayeros and Federico Estevez) (Cambridge University Press, 2016) explores how politics shapes poverty alleviation.

Magaloni’s work was published in leading journals, including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Criminology & Public Policy, World Development, Comparative Political Studies, Annual Review of Political Science, Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing, Latin American Research Review, and others.

Magaloni received wide international acclaim for identifying innovative solutions for salient societal problems through impact-driven research. In 2023, she was named winner of the world-renowned Stockholm Prize in Criminology, considered an equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the field of criminology. The award recognized her extensive research on crime, policing, and human rights in Mexico and Brazil. Magaloni’s research in this area was also recognized by the American Political Science Association, which named her recipient of the 2021 Heinz I. Eulau Award for the best article published in the American Political Science Review, the leading journal in the discipline.

She received her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University and holds a law degree from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.

Academic Appointments

• Professor, Political Science
• Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
• Affiliate, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

Honors & Awards

• Stockholm Prize in Criminology, Swedish Ministry of Justice (2023)
• 2021 Heinz I. Eulau Award for the best article published in the American Political Science Review, American Political Science Association (2021)
• Leon D. Epstein Outstanding Book Award, American Political Science Association (2007)
• Best book award given by the Comparative Democratization section, American Political Science Association (2007)
• Best Paper in Comparative Politics, 96th American Political Science Association Meeting (with Alberto Diaz-Cayeros and Barry Weingast) (2001)
• Gabriel Almond Award — Best Dissertation in Comparative Politics, American Political Science Association (1998)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

• Chair of the Michael Wallerstein Award for the best paper on political economy published in the past two years, American Political Science Association Meeting (2012 - 2012)
• Organizer of the Comparative Politics of Developing Countries Section, American Political Science Association Meeting (2011 - 2011)
• Gabriel Almond Award Committee, Comparative Politics Division, American Political Science Association (2010 - 2010)
• Lubbert Award for Best Paper, Comparative Politics Division, American Political Science Association (2005 - 2005)
• Assistant to the editor, World Development (2013 - Present)
• Research Scholars Group, World Justice Project (2013 - Present)

Program Affiliations

• Center for Latin American Studies
• Program in International Relations

Professional Education

• Ph.D., Duke University, Department of Political Science (1997)
• M.A., Duke University, Department of Political Science (1993)
• Licenciatura, ITAM, Mexico, Law (1989)