Lucas de Abreu Maia, Political Scientist and Journalist

I am Lecturer in Politics with Quantitative Research methods at the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol. I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at the University of California San Diego. I research political behaviour, particularly the association between ideology and voting.

I was a pre-doctoral fellow in the Department of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the 2019-20 academic year. My research has been funded by the Frontiers of Innovation Scholars Program at UCSD as well as by the Rita L. Atkinson fellowship.

I am interested in the role of public opinion in shaping political outcomes, including election results and policy. My paper “No Evidence of Backlash: LGBT Rights in Latin America”, with Albert Chiu and Scott Desposato (The Journal of Politics) received the 2024 Seligson Prise for the best paper using the LAPOP AmericasBarometer dataset published in 2023.

In my Ph.D. dissertation and book project, I use experimental and public opinion data to answer a fundamental question in the study of political behaviour: what’s the role of ideology in America? I show that, contrary to prevailing theories, ideological identification has affective, attitudinal, and behavioural consequences.

I am an op-ed contributor at Folha de S. Paulo, Brazil’s largest newspaper, and at revista piauí, Brazil’s most prestigious magazine.

Additionally, my political commentary has been featured in international and Brazilian media, including at venues such as the Washington Times, Radio France Internationale, GloboNews, and Jornal O Globo.

I have experience teaching modules on quantitative methodology, American politics, Latin American politics, race and ethnicity and public policy, at both the University of Bristol and the University of California San Diego. In April of 2022, I was nominated for the “Inspiring and Innovative Teaching Award” at the Bristol Teaching Awards – within less than three months after joining the University of Bristol.

I also cherish my mentoring duties, having advised many undergraduate and graduate students, most of whom were women or came from underrepresented backgrounds.

Lucas de Abreu Maia
School of Sociology,. Politics and International Studies
University of Bristol
11 Priory Road
Bristol
United Kingdom
BS8 1TU
lucas.deabreumaia@bristol.ac.uk