Alberto Díaz-Cayeros

Alberto Diaz-Cayeros Headshot

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 Diaz-Cayeros joined the FSI faculty in 2013 after serving for five years as the director of the Center for US-Mexico studies at the University of California, San Diego. He earned his Ph.D at Duke University in 1997. He was an assistant professor of political science at Stanford from 2001-2008, before which he served as an assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles. Diaz-Cayeros has also served as a researcher at Centro de Investigacion Para el Desarrollo, A.C. in Mexico from 1997-1999. His work has focused on federalism, poverty and violence in Latin America, and Mexico in particular. He has published widely in Spanish and English. His book Federalism, Fiscal Authority and Centralization in Latin America was published by Cambridge University Press in 2007 (reprinted 2016). His latest book (with Federico Estevez and Beatriz Magaloni) is: The Political Logic of Poverty Relief Electoral Strategies and Social Policy in Mexico. His work has primarily focused on federalism, poverty and economic reform in Latin America, and Mexico in particular, with more recent work addressing crime and violence, youth-at-risk, and police professionalization. 

publications

Journal Articles
October 2025

Los cuerpos en San Francisco (Bodies in San Francisco)

Author(s)
Los cuerpos en San Francisco (Bodies in San Francisco)
Journal Articles
September 2025

Does the Bukele Model Have a Future?

Author(s)
Does the Bukele Model Have a Future?
Journal Articles
February 2022

Pandemic Spikes and Broken Spears: Indigenous Resilience after the Conquest of Mexico

Author(s)
Pandemic Spikes and Broken Spears: Indigenous Resilience after the Conquest of Mexico

In The News

Wall plastered with posters and graffiti text reading "DEMOCRACY NOW"
News

Stanford Launches New Democracy Action Lab to Confront Global Democratic Backsliding

By combining rigorous research with practitioner collaborations, the Democracy Action Lab at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law turns ideas into action.
Stanford Launches New Democracy Action Lab to Confront Global Democratic Backsliding
Ricardo Brugada, Asunción, Paraguay
News

Conditional Cash Transfers, Poverty, and Democracy in Latin America: Successes and Challenges

CDDRL Research-in-Brief [4-minute read]
Conditional Cash Transfers, Poverty, and Democracy in Latin America: Successes and Challenges
Former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos addressed a Stanford audience at a May 1 event.
News

Santos: Build Peace and Trust Through Dialogue

Former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos shared insights on peace processes, leadership, and conflict transformation with a Stanford audience.
Santos: Build Peace and Trust Through Dialogue