Matias López
Biographic Data
| ID | 3619879 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Matias López |
| GIVEN NAMES | Matias |
| FAMILY NAME | López |
| SIGNATURE | LOPEZ M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0871-2841 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 57 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Whose merit, which redistribution? Elites, taxes, and transfers in Brazil and South Africa
Scholarship often treats two dimensions of meritocracy as interchangeable: if success is due to hard work, poverty must be due to a lack of effort. We contrast elites’ perceptions about their own success with their perceptions about the lack of success of others. We posit that these two dimensions—merit of self and merit of others—are distinct, with different implications for redistributive preferences, and varying salience across national contex…
The effect of sampling mode on response rate and bias in elite surveys
The literature frequently recommends purposive sampling of elites based on the assumptions that random sampling negatively affects the response rate and that it induces bias. I test these assumptions drawing on metadata from 282 samples of political, economic, and social elites, and on microdata from 2,658 elites. First I use permutations to calculate confidence intervals for the expected response rate following each sampling method. Second, I es…
A ira do homem branco: Preditores do voto em Enéas e Bolsonaro
Ao constatar diversas similaridades entre os candidatos presidenciais Enéas Carneiro e Jair Bolsonaro, neste artigo testo a hipótese de haver um perfil comum entre o eleitorado de ambos. Usando dados eleitorais e pesquisas de intenção de voto, descrevo como a distribuição territorial do voto em Enéas converge com a de Bolsonaro e como os preditores mais eficientes do voto em Enéas também preveem o voto em Bolsonaro. Os resultados apontam para um …
Unlikely Expropriators: Why Right-Wing Parties Implemented Agrarian Reform in Democratic Brazil
What motivated right-wing and conservative parties to endorse a policy of land expropriation and redistribution in Brazil? I argue that urban-dominated right-wing parties endorsed agrarian reform in order to: (i) reduce crime in wealthier metropolises by reversing rural-urban migration; and (ii) gain competitive advantage against left-wing challengers. To test this argument I conduct process tracing, analysing over 500 elite statements about agra…
Economic and cultural determinants of elite attitudes toward redistribution
Previous studies have posited that elites are willing to advance the redistribution of income and social goods when the negative effects of inequality, such as crime and conflict, threaten their own interests. Although elites acknowledge these negative effects, their support for redistributive policies remains low throughout the Global South. We address this paradox using a multi-method research design. Drawing on 56 in-depth interviews with Braz…
Assessing the Risk of Democratic Reversal in the United States: A Reply to Kurt Weyland
By replying to Kurt Weyland’s (2020) comparative study of populism, we revisit optimistic perspectives on the health of American democracy in light of existing evidence. Relying on a set-theoretical approach, Weyland concludes that populists succeed in subverting democracy only when institutional weakness and conjunctural misfortune are observed jointly in a polity, thereby conferring on the United States immunity to democratic reversal. We chall…
State Segmentation and Democratic Survival in Latin America
Popular models portray that high inequality induces elites to sponsor coups and reverse democratization as a means for repressing redistributive demands. Challenging this prediction, Latin America shifted from a historical pattern of systematic democratic breakdowns to one characterized by the resilience of democracy despite extreme levels of inequality. This article argues that the reminiscence of state-led repression under democracy explains wh…
Politics and Inequality in Comparative Perspective: A Research Agenda
Democracy's normative foundation is political equality. Yet the dominance of the elite over the masses, and the systematic exclusion of particular social and economic groups from the influence on, and outcomes of, important decisions, manifests in political inequality. If this situation is normatively intolerable, why does political inequality endure? We build on the theoretical and empirical literature of politics and inequality and the collecti…
States, elites, and inequality in Latin America
In this article, I review the literature on elites and inequality in Latin America with a focus on the emergence of uneven state structures and how they came to foster the needs of elites for protection. States in Latin America are traditionally thought of as facilitating processes of top‐down modernization that transformed traditional agrarian economies into complex urban polities, while maintaining extreme inequality. The state is thus central …
Teaching & Learning Guide for: States, elites, and inequality in Latin America
Elite Framing of Inequality in the Press: Brazil and Uruguay Compared
Current elite studies argue that inequality produces negative externalities to elites, who may either promote democracy or adopt authoritarian measures in order to shield their interests from the actions of the rebellious poor. This article argues that elite framing of poverty and inequality in the press is a good thermometer of elite public response to such externalities. The press represents a communication tool shared by elites in the state, m…
"Brazilian People" in the Eyes of Elites: Repertoires and Symbolic Boundaries of Inequality
We analyze the cultural repertoires mobilized by elites to describe "Brazilian people." We rely on survey and in-depth interview data to capture how political, bureaucratic and business elites in Brazil frame poverty and inequality. Our data suggest that elites acknowledge poverty as a structural problem for the State to solve, but remain skeptical on the odds of actual solutions, indicating fatalistic perceptions that categorize the Brazilian po…
Enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica por exposición al humo de biomasa
In this article, the relationship between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and biomass smoke will be discussed. More than half of the world population uses biomass for fuel, especially in rural areas and in developing countries where usage reaches 80%. Biomass smoke inhalation creates an inflammatory chronic state, which is accompanied by metalloproteinases activation and mucociliary mobility reduction. This could explain the existing…
Desigualdade E Política
The state of poverty: Elite perceptions of the poor in Brazil and Uruguay
This article approaches elites' perceptions of poverty, inequality, and social policy in Brazil and Uruguay from democratization to the recent shift toward left-wing governments. It explores elites' perceptions of the roles of the state, the market, and their own role in relation to poverty. The analysis relies on a series of elite surveys targeting leaders from the state and government, the corporate world, and the third sector in Brazil and Uru…
Economic and cultural determinants of elite attitudes toward redistribution
Previous studies have posited that elites are willing to advance the redistribution of income and social goods when the negative effects of inequality, such as crime and conflict, threaten their own interests. Although elites acknowledge these negative effects, their support for redistributive policies remains low throughout the Global South. We address this paradox using a multi-method research design. Drawing on 56 in-depth interviews with Braz…
The state of poverty: Elite perceptions of the poor in Brazil and Uruguay
This article approaches elites' perceptions of poverty, inequality, and social policy in Brazil and Uruguay from democratization to the recent shift toward left-wing governments. It explores elites' perceptions of the roles of the state, the market, and their own role in relation to poverty. The analysis relies on a series of elite surveys targeting leaders from the state and government, the corporate world, and the third sector in Brazil and Uru…
"Brazilian People" in the Eyes of Elites: Repertoires and Symbolic Boundaries of Inequality
We analyze the cultural repertoires mobilized by elites to describe "Brazilian people." We rely on survey and in-depth interview data to capture how political, bureaucratic and business elites in Brazil frame poverty and inequality. Our data suggest that elites acknowledge poverty as a structural problem for the State to solve, but remain skeptical on the odds of actual solutions, indicating fatalistic perceptions that categorize the Brazilian po…
States, elites, and inequality in Latin America
In this article, I review the literature on elites and inequality in Latin America with a focus on the emergence of uneven state structures and how they came to foster the needs of elites for protection. States in Latin America are traditionally thought of as facilitating processes of top‐down modernization that transformed traditional agrarian economies into complex urban polities, while maintaining extreme inequality. The state is thus central …
Elite Framing of Inequality in the Press: Brazil and Uruguay Compared
Current elite studies argue that inequality produces negative externalities to elites, who may either promote democracy or adopt authoritarian measures in order to shield their interests from the actions of the rebellious poor. This article argues that elite framing of poverty and inequality in the press is a good thermometer of elite public response to such externalities. The press represents a communication tool shared by elites in the state, m…
A ira do homem branco: Preditores do voto em Enéas e Bolsonaro
Ao constatar diversas similaridades entre os candidatos presidenciais Enéas Carneiro e Jair Bolsonaro, neste artigo testo a hipótese de haver um perfil comum entre o eleitorado de ambos. Usando dados eleitorais e pesquisas de intenção de voto, descrevo como a distribuição territorial do voto em Enéas converge com a de Bolsonaro e como os preditores mais eficientes do voto em Enéas também preveem o voto em Bolsonaro. Os resultados apontam para um …
Unlikely Expropriators: Why Right-Wing Parties Implemented Agrarian Reform in Democratic Brazil
What motivated right-wing and conservative parties to endorse a policy of land expropriation and redistribution in Brazil? I argue that urban-dominated right-wing parties endorsed agrarian reform in order to: (i) reduce crime in wealthier metropolises by reversing rural-urban migration; and (ii) gain competitive advantage against left-wing challengers. To test this argument I conduct process tracing, analysing over 500 elite statements about agra…
Assessing the Risk of Democratic Reversal in the United States: A Reply to Kurt Weyland
By replying to Kurt Weyland’s (2020) comparative study of populism, we revisit optimistic perspectives on the health of American democracy in light of existing evidence. Relying on a set-theoretical approach, Weyland concludes that populists succeed in subverting democracy only when institutional weakness and conjunctural misfortune are observed jointly in a polity, thereby conferring on the United States immunity to democratic reversal. We chall…
Politics and Inequality in Comparative Perspective: A Research Agenda
Democracy's normative foundation is political equality. Yet the dominance of the elite over the masses, and the systematic exclusion of particular social and economic groups from the influence on, and outcomes of, important decisions, manifests in political inequality. If this situation is normatively intolerable, why does political inequality endure? We build on the theoretical and empirical literature of politics and inequality and the collecti…
Desigualdade E Política
The state of poverty: Elite perceptions of the poor in Brazil and Uruguay
This article approaches elites' perceptions of poverty, inequality, and social policy in Brazil and Uruguay from democratization to the recent shift toward left-wing governments. It explores elites' perceptions of the roles of the state, the market, and their own role in relation to poverty. The analysis relies on a series of elite surveys targeting leaders from the state and government, the corporate world, and the third sector in Brazil and Uru…
Enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica por exposición al humo de biomasa
In this article, the relationship between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and biomass smoke will be discussed. More than half of the world population uses biomass for fuel, especially in rural areas and in developing countries where usage reaches 80%. Biomass smoke inhalation creates an inflammatory chronic state, which is accompanied by metalloproteinases activation and mucociliary mobility reduction. This could explain the existing…
Desigualdade E Política
"Brazilian People" in the Eyes of Elites: Repertoires and Symbolic Boundaries of Inequality
We analyze the cultural repertoires mobilized by elites to describe "Brazilian people." We rely on survey and in-depth interview data to capture how political, bureaucratic and business elites in Brazil frame poverty and inequality. Our data suggest that elites acknowledge poverty as a structural problem for the State to solve, but remain skeptical on the odds of actual solutions, indicating fatalistic perceptions that categorize the Brazilian po…
Elite Framing of Inequality in the Press: Brazil and Uruguay Compared
Current elite studies argue that inequality produces negative externalities to elites, who may either promote democracy or adopt authoritarian measures in order to shield their interests from the actions of the rebellious poor. This article argues that elite framing of poverty and inequality in the press is a good thermometer of elite public response to such externalities. The press represents a communication tool shared by elites in the state, m…
States, elites, and inequality in Latin America
In this article, I review the literature on elites and inequality in Latin America with a focus on the emergence of uneven state structures and how they came to foster the needs of elites for protection. States in Latin America are traditionally thought of as facilitating processes of top‐down modernization that transformed traditional agrarian economies into complex urban polities, while maintaining extreme inequality. The state is thus central …
Teaching & Learning Guide for: States, elites, and inequality in Latin America
State Segmentation and Democratic Survival in Latin America
Popular models portray that high inequality induces elites to sponsor coups and reverse democratization as a means for repressing redistributive demands. Challenging this prediction, Latin America shifted from a historical pattern of systematic democratic breakdowns to one characterized by the resilience of democracy despite extreme levels of inequality. This article argues that the reminiscence of state-led repression under democracy explains wh…
Politics and Inequality in Comparative Perspective: A Research Agenda
Democracy's normative foundation is political equality. Yet the dominance of the elite over the masses, and the systematic exclusion of particular social and economic groups from the influence on, and outcomes of, important decisions, manifests in political inequality. If this situation is normatively intolerable, why does political inequality endure? We build on the theoretical and empirical literature of politics and inequality and the collecti…
Assessing the Risk of Democratic Reversal in the United States: A Reply to Kurt Weyland
By replying to Kurt Weyland’s (2020) comparative study of populism, we revisit optimistic perspectives on the health of American democracy in light of existing evidence. Relying on a set-theoretical approach, Weyland concludes that populists succeed in subverting democracy only when institutional weakness and conjunctural misfortune are observed jointly in a polity, thereby conferring on the United States immunity to democratic reversal. We chall…
Economic and cultural determinants of elite attitudes toward redistribution
Previous studies have posited that elites are willing to advance the redistribution of income and social goods when the negative effects of inequality, such as crime and conflict, threaten their own interests. Although elites acknowledge these negative effects, their support for redistributive policies remains low throughout the Global South. We address this paradox using a multi-method research design. Drawing on 56 in-depth interviews with Braz…
The effect of sampling mode on response rate and bias in elite surveys
The literature frequently recommends purposive sampling of elites based on the assumptions that random sampling negatively affects the response rate and that it induces bias. I test these assumptions drawing on metadata from 282 samples of political, economic, and social elites, and on microdata from 2,658 elites. First I use permutations to calculate confidence intervals for the expected response rate following each sampling method. Second, I es…
A ira do homem branco: Preditores do voto em Enéas e Bolsonaro
Ao constatar diversas similaridades entre os candidatos presidenciais Enéas Carneiro e Jair Bolsonaro, neste artigo testo a hipótese de haver um perfil comum entre o eleitorado de ambos. Usando dados eleitorais e pesquisas de intenção de voto, descrevo como a distribuição territorial do voto em Enéas converge com a de Bolsonaro e como os preditores mais eficientes do voto em Enéas também preveem o voto em Bolsonaro. Os resultados apontam para um …
Unlikely Expropriators: Why Right-Wing Parties Implemented Agrarian Reform in Democratic Brazil
What motivated right-wing and conservative parties to endorse a policy of land expropriation and redistribution in Brazil? I argue that urban-dominated right-wing parties endorsed agrarian reform in order to: (i) reduce crime in wealthier metropolises by reversing rural-urban migration; and (ii) gain competitive advantage against left-wing challengers. To test this argument I conduct process tracing, analysing over 500 elite statements about agra…
Whose merit, which redistribution? Elites, taxes, and transfers in Brazil and South Africa
Scholarship often treats two dimensions of meritocracy as interchangeable: if success is due to hard work, poverty must be due to a lack of effort. We contrast elites’ perceptions about their own success with their perceptions about the lack of success of others. We posit that these two dimensions—merit of self and merit of others—are distinct, with different implications for redistributive preferences, and varying salience across national contex…
Political science (10 works) · Inequality (9 works) · Politics (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Political economy (8 works) · Economics (7 works) · Elite (7 works) · Democracy (6 works) · Development economics (6 works)