Dr. Andrew Janusz
University of Florida, Department of Political Science
Research Overview
My research examines the political representation of historically marginalized groups in Latin America's democracies. Although the region is among the most diverse in the world, elected officials in the region remain disproportionately white and overwhelmingly male. I study why these representation gaps exist and their implications for the quality of democracy.
I focus principally on Brazil, which is home to the largest population of African descent of any country outside Africa. Using econometric analyses, experiments, quasi-experimental designs, and qualitative methods, my work challenges the long-standing myth of Brazilian 'racial democracy' and shows how race and gender shape who runs for office, who wins, and whose interests legislatures ultimately serve.
Books
My first book, Race, Elections, and Power in Modern Brazil (University of Michigan Press), investigates why Afro-Brazilians are underrepresented in Brazil's Congress and explores how their underrepresentation shapes policy. Drawing on a year and a half of fieldwork, information on thousands of congressional candidates, and surveys of voters, I show that resource disparities and voter prejudice hinder Afro-Brazilian candidates from attaining electoral success. Moreover, through interviews with dozens of lawmakers and original data on legislative behavior, I demonstrate that racial gaps in representation affect policymaking. The project was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Fulbright-Hays Program, among others.
In my second book, Intersectional Institutionalism: How District Magnitude Affects the Representation of Marginalized Groups (under contract, Cambridge University Press), which is co-authored with Patrick Cunha Silva and Andrea Junqueira, we estimate the causal impact of district magnitude on the emergence and electoral success of candidates with different gender and racial identities. Using data on more than 1.2 million candidates, we show that district magnitude has a positive effect on the emergence of candidates from historically underrepresented groups. Moreover, we demonstrate that more diverse candidate fields do not translate into more diverse legislatures because, as district magnitude increases, women's (whites and Afro-Brazilians) access to campaign resources declines.
In peer-reviewed articles, I focus on similar themes. Several examine how race and skin tone shape electoral success in Brazil and Ecuador, and why some politicians strategically change how they racially identify themselves. Others investigate how political parties distribute campaign resources. Finally, a third strand of research focuses on how electoral rules — such as ballot length and candidate list position — affect candidate behavior, voter participation, and the diversity of those ultimately elected. Several of these articles are co-authored with undergraduate students, whom I mentor through the research process
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Janusz, Andrew and Agustin Vallejo. 2026. “The Race After the Race: How Candidates of Color Respond to Electoral Defeat.” Political Research Quarterly 10659129261440189.
Manuscript - Appendix
Janusz, Andrew. 2025. “Who Donates? Gender and Campaign Contributions in Brazil. Political Research Quarterly. 78(4), 1145-1164.
Janusz, Andrew and Vanessa Carrion. 2024. “Party Elites and Beauty Biases: Candidate Attractiveness and List Placement.” Party Politics 13540688251327562.
Manuscript - Appendix
Janusz, Andrew, Andrea Junqueira, and Patrick Cunha Silva. “Electoral Role Models: Political Empowerment and Candidate Emergence.” Political Behavior, 47(2), 573-598.
Janusz, Andrew. 2023. “The Electoral Consequences of Racial Fluidity.” Electoral Studies 82: 102597.
Manuscript - Appendix
Cunow, Saul, Scott Desposato, Andrew Janusz, and Cameron Sells. 2023.Too Much Of A Good Thing? Longer Ballots Reduce Voter Participation.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. 1-18.
Janusz, Andrew, Andrew Jarrin,* Tali Faerman,* and Karina Bravo.* 2023. “Skin Tone, List Position, and Electoral Success in Ecuador.” Electoral Studies 81, 102555.
Janusz, Andrew, Sofi-Nicole Barreiro,* Erika Cintron.* 2022. “Political Parties and Campaign Resource Allocation: Gender Gaps in Brazilian Elections.” Party Politics 28(5): 854-864.
Janusz, Andrew and Cameron Sells. 2022. “Race and Campaign Resources: Candidate Identification Numbers in Brazil.” Journal of Politics in Latin America 14(2):221-223.
Andrew Janusz. 2021. “Race and Resources in Brazilian Mayoral Elections.” Political Research Quarterly 75(3): 846-859.
Recipient of the 2021 National Conference of Black Political Scientists’ Rodney Higgins Best Faculty Paper Award
Janusz, Andrew and Luiz Augusto Campos. 2021. “Candidate Advertisements and Afro-Brazilian Political Marginalization.” Latin American Research Review 56(4): 761–778.
Janusz, Andrew. 2021. “Electoral Incentives and Elite Racial Identification: Why Brazilian Politicians Change Their Race.” Electoral Studies 72, 102340.
Cunow, Saul, Scott Desposato, Andrew Janusz, and Cameron Sells. 2021. “Less is More:
The Paradox of Choice in Voting Behavior.” Electoral Studies 69, 102230.
Janusz, Andrew. 2018. “Candidate Race and Electoral Outcomes: Evidence From Brazil.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 6.4: 702-724.
* Undergraduate student co-author