Alberto Díaz-Cayeros

Alberto Díaz-Cayeros

Alberto Díaz-Cayeros, MA, PhD

  • Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
  • Professor, by courtesy, of Political Science
  • Affiliated faculty at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law
  • Co-director, Democracy Action Lab
  • Director of the Center for Latin American Studies (2016 - 2023)

Encina Hall, C149
616 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305

(650) 725-0500 (voice)

Biography

Alberto Díaz-Cayeros is a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and co-director of the Democracy Action Lab (DAL), based at FSI's Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law (CDDRL). His research interests include federalism, poverty relief, indigenous governance, political economy of health, violence, and citizen security in Mexico and Latin America.

He is the author of Federalism, Fiscal Authority and Centralization in Latin America (Cambridge, reedited 2016), coauthored with Federico Estévez and Beatriz Magaloni, of The Political Logic of Poverty Relief (Cambridge, 2016), and of numerous journal articles and book chapters.

He is currently working on a project on cartography and the developmental legacies of colonial rule and governance in indigenous communities in Mexico.

From 2016 to 2023, he was the Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Stanford University, and from 2009 to 2013, Director of the Center for US-Mexican Studies at UCSD, the University of California, San Diego.

publications

Decentralised Activation, Not Coordinated Campaign

Author(s)
Decentralised Activation, Not Coordinated Campaign
Policy Briefs
February 2026

Impact Evaluation: Program Jóvenes con Porvenir

Author(s)
Impact Evaluation: Program Jóvenes con Porvenir
Policy Briefs
November 2015

La Geografía Electoral de 2012 (México)

Author(s)
La Geografía Electoral de 2012 (México)
Policy Briefs
October 2012

In The News

Illustration of diverse young activists emerging from a garage carrying books and a raised-fist flag, with a network of connected stars overhead, symbolizing the Democracy Garage.
News

Democracy Action Lab Lanza Oficialmente La Primera Cohorte de The Democracy Garage

El Primer Acelerador de Democracia de Este Tipo en América Latina y el Caribe.
Democracy Action Lab Lanza Oficialmente La Primera Cohorte de The Democracy Garage
Illustration of diverse young activists emerging from a garage carrying books and a raised-fist flag, with a network of connected stars overhead, symbolizing the Democracy Garage.
News

Democracy Action Lab Launches First Cohort of the Democracy Garage

The first democracy accelerator of its kind in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Democracy Action Lab Launches First Cohort of the Democracy Garage
Woman working on a loom wearing traditional dress in Peru.
News

Revisiting the Politics of Indigeneity in Latin America

CDDRL Research-in-Brief [4-minute read]
Revisiting the Politics of Indigeneity in Latin America