Dr. John Polga-Hecimovich

Dr. John Polga-Hecimovich is an assistant professor of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy and an associate researcher at FLACSO-Ecuador. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master’s Degree in Latin American Studies from the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar (Ecuador), and a B.A. in Government and Spanish from Dartmouth College. He has taught political science at Wake Forest University, the College of William and Mary, and FLACSO-Ecuador, and has conducted academic fieldwork in Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia.

His research is broadly focused on the effects of political institutions on democratic stability, policymaking, and governance, especially in Latin America. He has published peer-reviewed articles in top academic journals in the U.S., U.K., and Latin America, and book chapters in both English and Spanish.