Assistant Professor of Political Science
Dr. Centellas’s research is in comparative politics, with a focus on democratic institutions. He earned his Ph.D. from Western Michigan University (2007) and has previously taught at Dickinson College (2006-2008), Mount St. Mary’s University (2008-2009), and the University of Mississippi (2009-2013). His was awarded a Fulbright graduate fellowship for fieldwork in Bolivia (2003-2004) and was named a graduate fellow by the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences (2006).
His specific country of expertise is Bolivia. He authored the 2012 country report on Bolivia for Freedom House and has frequently been invited to comment on Bolivian politics on national and international media, as well as in publications like Americas Quarterly and ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America. Most recently, he was invited by the Library of Congress to author the Bolivian politics section of the Handbook of Latin American Studies. He recently completed a four-year project supported by the National Science Foundation collecting biographical data on legislative candidates in Bolivia.
Selected Publications
• Centellas, Miguel. 2013. “Multiculturalism and Indigenous Rights in Bolivia’s 2009 Constitution.” In Michael S. Danielson and Todd Eisenstadt (eds.), Understanding Latin America’s Multiculturalism and Autonomy Movements, 88-110. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Gugiu, Mihaiela Risetei and Miguel Centellas. 2013. “The Democracy Cluster Classification Index.” Political Analysis 21 (3): 334-349.
• Centellas, Miguel. 2010. “Savina Cuéllar and Bolivia’s New Regionalism.” Latin American Perspectives 37 (4): 161-176.
• Centellas, Miguel. 2009. “Electoral Reform, Regional Cleavages, and Party System Stability in Bolivia.” Journal of Politics in Latin America 1 (2): 115-131.
• Centellas, Miguel. 2008. “From ‘Parliamentarized’ to ‘Pure’ Presidentialism: Bolivia after October 2003.” The Latin Americanist 52 (3): 5-30.
Courses Taught
PS 352 Modernization and Political Change
PS 353 Government and Politics in Latin America
PS 446 Scope and Methods
PS 447 Senior Research Seminar
PS 532 Politics of Developing States
PS 583 Special Topics Seminar (Latin America)
Contact Information
Telephone: (601) 979-8658
Email: miguel.centellas@jsums.edu