Pablo Policzer head shot

Dr. Pablo Policzer

PhD

Affiliations

Associate Professor

Faculty of Arts, Department of Political Science

Contact information

Email

policzer@ucalgary.ca

Phone number

Office: +1 (403) 220-5923

I'm looking for...

Learning opportunities

I am keen to learn more about governance broadly understood, especially from a complex systems perspective.

Background

Educational Background

B.A. Political Science, University of British Columbia, 1989

Doctor of Philosophy Political Science, Massachusetts Inst of Tech, 2001

Research

Areas of Research

Comparative Poliitcs of Latin America

I am broadly interested in Latin American politics. This includes an interest in the evolution of violent conflict -- especially among armed actors such as militaries, police forces, and non-state armed groups -- in authoritarian and democratic regimes. In recent years I have also begun to study the possibilities of collaborative governance in extractive industry areas, especially involving indigenous communities, and through a complex systems lens.

Participation in university strategic initiatives

Human Dynamics in a Changing World (2015-2021)

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
POLI 415 LEC 01 01 Politics through Film 2021
POLI 473 States and Regimes in Latin America Winter 2023
POLI 359 Introduction to Comparative Politics Winter 2023
POLI 201 Introduction to Politics and Government Fall 2022
POLI 673 Comparative Politics: Theories and Methods Fall 2022

Projects

Collaborative governance in the extractive sector in Latin America

Together with partners across disciplines in different parts of the region, this project explores the possibility of understanding and developing less technocratic and more collaborative forms of governance in the extractive sector in Latin America. There is increasing consensus that in order to tackle big problems such as climate change we need to figure out how to collaborate across regions and disciplines. There has also been a global normative shift in the direction of more participation, consultation and even consent in the extractive industry, especially involving Indigenous communities. Yet the precise ways in which more collaborative forms of governance might work remain to be determined. We aim to do so by drawing inspiration from these normative shifts along with insights from complex systems theories.

Two current strands of this research develop these questions in different directions. The first examines lithium extraction and the green energy transition, using the concept of systemic moral hazard to analyze how risk is displaced across the multiple layers — from local communities to global markets — that make up the new geography of power around this resource. The second, developed in a chapter titled "Don't Fear the Demos," makes the case for deliberative democracy and genuine public participation in extractive governance precisely in moments of political turbulence, when the temptation to retreat to technocratic control is strongest.

While this project began in its early stages, it has since grown into an ongoing program of research and forms a core part of the inquiry in the course on Complex Governance.

Populist Leaders and Democratic Backsliding: Civil Servants and Public Opinion in Mexico and Argentina

SSHRC Insight Development Grant

This project examines how populist leaders drive democratic backsliding by focusing on two under-studied dimensions: the role of civil servants who implement (or resist) populist agendas from within the state, and the shifts in public opinion that sustain or constrain populist rule. Drawing on comparative evidence from Mexico and Argentina, the research investigates the mechanisms through which populist leadership erodes democratic institutions and norms, and the conditions under which bureaucratic and public responses can check or accelerate that erosion. I'm a co-investigator in this project with Dr. Noam Titelman.

The Moral Hazard Trap

Book manuscript in progress

This book develops the concept of moral hazard as a lens for understanding how risk and accountability get displaced when actors are shielded from the consequences of their actions. Across different chapters, it examines Chilean constitutional politics, extractive economies, humanitarian law, and civil society resistance to authoritarianism, opening with the moral hazard of human rights advocacy itself — drawing on early work on the Chilean dictatorship to show how mechanisms built to expose and redress abuse can end up shielding the very actors they were meant to hold accountable. The book traces how mechanisms designed to manage risk — legal, economic, and institutional — can instead entrench impunity, and asks what conditions allow societies to break out of this trap. 

Awards

  • CPSA Comparative Politics Prize, 2010
  • Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title, 2009
  • Tier II CRC in Latin American Politics, 2005

Publications

Political Science Department

In the News

More Information

Current:

Alem Cherinet, Ph.D. candidate (Political Science)
Gershon Adela, Ph.D. candidate (Political Science), co-supervised with Rob Huebert
Erin Novakowski, M.A. candidate (Political Science)
Meagan Diaz-Flores, M.S.S. candidate (Strategic Studies)

Former:

Dr. Adriana Rincón, Ph.D., Global Governance, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Postdoctoral Fellow (Political Science), 2020-23
Dr. Alberto Montoya Correa, Ph.D. International Relations, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil. Postdoctoral Fellow (Political Science), 2019-2021

Dr. Ricardo Vernet, "Peasants, Movements, and the Survival of Democracy in Haiti and Nicaragua," Ph.D. (Political Science), Winner of Department of Political Science Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation, 2022.
Dr. Mariana Hipólito Ramos Mota, "From Delegation to Limits on Presidential Power: Brazil in Comparative Perspective," Ph.D. (Political Science). Winner of Department of Political Science Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation, 2017
Dr. Alex D. McDougall, "The Politics of Protection and Extraction: An Examination of the Origin and Development of State Power in Latin America," Ph.D. (Political Science), 2011, co-supervised with Stephen Randall

Beatrice Yeung, "Decentralization and Defeat: The Structural Limits of a Pro-Democracy Movement," M.A. (Political Science), 2026.
Andrew Kemle, "Instrumental Reasons to Reason Non-Instrumentally: Complexity, Rational Choice, and Habermas’s Two-Track Model of Democracy," M.A. (Political Science), Winner of Department of Political Science Award for best M.A. Thesis, 2024.
Alem Cherinet, "Violence, Causality, and the Emergence of Mexico's General Law on Forced Disappearance," M.A. (Political Science). Winner of Department of Political Science Award for best M.A. Thesis, 2021.
Jeanne Liendo, "The Political Economy of the Hydrocarbon Sector: Bolivia and Venezuela in Comparative Perspective," M.A. (Political Science), 2019
Maria Ford, "A Violent Symbiosis: Gangs, the State, and the Rise in Crime in São Paulo," M.A. (Political Science), 2014
Tobey Berriault, "Unusual Suspects: Religion, Chieftaincy, and Post-Conflict Reintegration in Sierra Leone," M.A. (Political Science), 2013, co-supervised with Maureen Hiebert
Olivia Rocskar, "The Roots of Democratic Participation: The Historical Legacies of the Polish Partition," M.A. (Political Science), 2013
Tammy Lambert, "Deepening Divides: Emergent Consequences of Rwanda’s Reconciliation Initiatives," M.A. (Political Science), 2011
Juliana Ramírez, "Rethinking the Link Between Civil Society and Civil War: the Case of Colombia," M.A. (Political Science), 2008
Alejandro García Magos, "Presidential Power and Democracy in Mexico," M.A. (Political Science), 2008

Clarice Rocha, "Justice and Security: How Transitional Justice Shaped Civil-Military Relations in Brazil and Argentina," M.S.S. (Strategic Studies), 2025
Kimberly Pavelich, "Gender Biases and Armed Conflict: Assessing the Reintegration Experience of Women from the LRA," M.S.S. (Strategic Studies), 2013, co-supervised with Hrach Gregorian
Milos Dimic, "Viable Conflict Resolution: Lessons Learned from the Ituri District in the Democratic Republic of Congo," M.S.S. (Strategic Studies), 2011, co-supervised with Hrach Gregorian
Juliette González, "Militarizing the War on Drugs: The Influence of the Colombian Government in Shaping the Design of Plan Colombia," M.S.S. (Strategic Studies), 2011
Timothy S. Cake, "The Impact of Military Culture and Doctrine on Colombia’s Counterinsurgency," M.S.S. (Strategic Studies), 2009

Louise Bwandinga, “Understanding Local Content Policy in Petro-Developmental States: A Comparative Case Study of Brazil and Nigeria,” B.A. (Honours, Political Science), Winner of Department of Political Science Award for Best Honours Thesis, 2023
Laura Silva Aya, "Peace vs. Land? Understanding the 2016 Colombian Plebiscite," B.A. (Honours, Political Science), Winner of Department of Political Science Award for Best Honours Thesis, 2017
Stefan Parker, "Water and Gold: Conflict and Corporate Social Responsibility in Peru's Mining Sector," B.A. (Honours, Political Science), Winner of Department of Political Science Award for Best Honours Thesis, 2015
Holly Ann Penny, "Australia and Canada Compared: Asylum Seekers Arriving by Boat," B.A. (Honours, Political Science), 2013
Noureddin Zaamout, "Targeted Killing: Static Policy in a Dynamic World," B.A. (Honours, Political Science), 2013
Andrea Sellinger, B.A. (Honours, Political Science), 2009
Ryan King, B.A. (Honours, Political Science), 2009
Aris Ablachim, B.A. (Honours, Political Science), 2008
Gustavo Baena, B.A. (Honours, Political Science), 2008
Jan Boesten, B.A. (Honours, Political Science), 2007
Esteban Kahs-Garay, B.A. (Honours, Law and Society), 2007
Andrea Bures, B.A. (Latin American Studies), 2005
Karen Huggins, B.A. (Latin American Studies), 2005
Kaylie LaChapelle, B.A. (Honours, Political Science), 2005