Madai Urteaga-Quispe

About Me

I hold a PhD in Political Science from Harvard University. I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. My research examines the political economy of development strategies in Latin America with a focus on agricultural policies and rural politics. In my book project, I explain why governments adopt pro-agricultural development strategies—or what I call agrarian developmentalism. Find my CV here and visit my personal website here.

madai

Work in Progress

“Agrarian Developmentalism: The Politics of Development Strategies in Latin America.”

  • Awarded best Graduate Student Paper by Latin American Political Economy Network REPAL. 

“Judging Property: Judicial Independence, Elite Influence, and Public Land Allocation in Colombia” with Isabel Güiza-Gómez.

  • Honorable Mention for Best Paper by the Latin American Political Economy Network REPAL.

Publications

2025 “Expanding the State: Rural Mobilization and Bureaucratic Presence in Peru” (with Christopher Carter), Comparative Political Studies. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00104140251349660

  • Awarded an Honorable Mention for the Sage Prize, APSA Comparative Politics Section.

2019 “The Power of the Seed: Timing, Quick Structural Change, and Genetically Modified Crop Regulations in the Andes”, Comparative Politics, 51(4), pp. 539-561 (with Eduardo Dargent). https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny/cp/2019/00000051/00000004/art00004

2017 “State-building in Latin America: Analyzing its Historical Foundations”. Política y Gobierno, México, 24(2), pp. 435-457. Original in Spanish. http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1665-20372017000200435

2016 “State Response by External Pressures: The Determinants of the State’s strengthening to face the Illegal Gold Mining Boom in Peru (2004-2015)”. Revista de Ciencia Política, Santiago 36(3), pp. 255-277 (With Eduardo Dargent). Original in Spanish. https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0718-090X2016000300003&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=en

2016 State Capacity and Social Forces: Exploring a Complex Relation. In Grompone, R. ed., Uncertainties and Distances: The controversial role of the state in Peru. Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (With Eduardo Dargent). Original in Spanish.