# Peru’s 2026 Elections ![Tuesday seminar logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_5_4__480x385/public/2025-09/Tuesday%20Seminar%20Photo%20Template_0.jpg?itok=ZrZeEeFY) #### calendar\_today Date and Time **April 21, 2026** 12:00PM - 01:30PM EDT #### pin\_drop Location **CGIS South, Room S216** No registration required to attend in person. [ Register to Attend Virtually arrow\_circle\_right ](https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Lpuk_6l-T1eS-YBRW6EJHA#/registration) Coming between Peru’s first-round election and runoff, this panel will offer timely analysis of what the initial results reveal about Peruvian society and politics and what might unfold in the decisive second round. Speakers will help us understand voter behavior, party competition, and the broader political and economic context shaping the electoral landscape. Through comparative insights and on-the-ground expertise, the panel will consider the stakes of this moment for Peru’s future direction. *This event is presented in collaboration with the* [*Weatherhead Center for International Affairs*](https://wcfia.harvard.edu/)*.* ***Interpretation to Spanish available on Zoom*** ### Rodrigo Barrenechea Panelist Ph.D. in Political Science, Northwestern University ![Barrenechea](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Barrenechea%20photo.jpg?h=e5511076&itok=zWkL4LVb) ### Mabel Cáceres Panelist Journalist ![caceres](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Carceres%20photo.jpg?h=7605b7ec&itok=9cGXvi8Y) ### Paula Muñoz-Chirinos Panelist Full Professor, Universidad del Pacífico in Peru ![Paula Muñoz-Chirinos](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Screenshot%202026-02-09%20at%201.26.28%E2%80%AFPM.png?h=cce71f0a&itok=PJAc3fpo) ### Alberto Vergara Panelist Political scientist ![Alberto Vergara](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/alberto-vergara-ciup-1.jpg?h=127a7f99&itok=N62pBr2b) ### Steven Levitsky Moderator Director, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies; David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies; Professor of Government, Harvard ![steve photo](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/060417_Portraits_16-e1689548468915-300x300_1.jpg?itok=4Zi2d9nl) ### Alisha C. Holland Moderator Professor of Government, Department of Government ![Alisha Holland](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Alisha-Holland-e1669652325704%20%281%29_1.jpg?h=638708df&itok=LK9FFwXa) ## Bios Open all sections Close all sections ### Rodrigo Barrenechea expand\_more **Rodrigo Barrenechea** is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Universidad del Pacífico. He is a former Postdoctoral Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and a former Visiting Scholar at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, both at Harvard University. His research focuses on populism, political parties, and democracy in Latin America. ### Mabel Cáceres expand\_more **Mabel Cáceres** is a journalist with more than twenty-five years of experience working in rural regions of Peru. Born in Puno, her work centers on the rights of communities outside Lima, with particular attention to Andean populations. She is the founder and director of a regional media outlet that has received multiple national and Latin American awards. ### Paula Muñoz expand\_more **Paula Muñoz** is a Full Professor at Universidad del Pacífico in Peru. She received her PhD and MA in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of *Buying Audiences: Clientelism and Electoral Campaigns When Parties Are Weak* (Cambridge University Press, 2009) and coauthor of *Prosecutors, Voters, and the Criminalization of Corruption in Latin America: The Case of Lava Jato* (Cambridge University Press, 2023). Her research interests include distributive politics, corruption, subnational politics, democratic accountability, and, more recently, the politics of plastics regulation. ### Alberto Vergara expand\_more **Alberto Vergara** is a political scientist and professor at the department of social and political sciences at the Universidad del Pacífico (Lima, Perú). His most recent books are *Repúblicas defraudadas: puede América latina escapar de su atasco?* (Crítica 2023) ; *Democracia asaltada: El colapso de la política peruana (y una advertencia para América Latina)* (coedited with Rodrigo Barrenechea) (Universidad del pacífico 2024), and *Perú Global: explicar el Perú con el mundo* (coedited with Adrián Lerner) (Universidad del Pacífico y Crítica 2025). ### Steven Levitsky expand\_more **Steven Levitsky** is David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government and Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard. He is Senior Fellow at the Kettering Foundation and a Senior Democracy Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. His research focuses on democratization and authoritarianism, political parties, and weak and informal institutions, with a focus on Latin America. He is co-author (with Daniel Ziblatt) of *How Democracies Die*, which was a *New York Times* Best-Seller and was published in 30 languages, and *Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point*. He has written or edited 11 other books, including *Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America: Argentine Peronism in Comparative Perspective* (Cambridge University Press 2003), *Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War* (with Lucan Way) (Cambridge University Press, 2010), and *Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism* (with Lucan Way) (Princeton University Press, 2022). He and Lucan Way are currently working on a book on democratic resilience across the world. Professor Levitsky has written for *New York Times*, *The Washington Post*, *The Atlantic*, *Foreign Affairs*, and *The New Republic*, and he has been a columnist for *La Republica* (Peru) and *Folha de São Paulo* (Brazil). ### Alisha C. Holland expand\_more **Alisha C. Holland** studies the comparative political economy of development with a focus on Latin America. Her first book, *Forbearance as Redistribution: The Politics of Informal Welfare in Latin America* (Cambridge University Press, 2017), examines the politics of law enforcement against the poor. She is working on a new book on the institutional determinants and challenges of infrastructure investment in Latin America. Prior to joining the faculty, she was an assistant professor in the Politics Department at Princeton University and a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. See also:- [ Cambridge ](/locations/cambridge-office) - [ Tuesday Seminar Series ](/programs-initiatives/tuesday-seminar-series) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#) Save: [ Add to calendar calendar\_today ](https://www.drclas.harvard.edu/node/1589216/event-feed.ics) Copy link link