Adrián del Río

I received my Ph.D. in Social and Political Science from the European University Institute in May 2020. Currently, I obtained a Humboldt postdoctoral grant to carry out my research at the Institute for East European and International Studies (ZOIS) and Berlin Social Science Centre, Transformation of Democracy research unit.

My research interests include elite politics, authoritarianism, indoctrination, business power, regime change, and other fascinating topics in comparative politics and political economy.

My largest project focuses on divisions within the ruling elite in electoral autocracies -dictatorships that hold multiparty elections. It provides a novel theory, data, and research to explain the strains and disruptions within authoritarian governments as well as defectors’ contribution to regime change.

While I am writing my book manuscript on elite defections in electoral autocracies, I collaborate with two international teams at the University of Oslo and Glasgow in two ERC-funded projects on regime-led indoctrination. I also participate in a project that examines when, why, and how politicians reach law-making agreements, coordinated by the National Distance Education University. see more in my website: www.adelrio.com