Diana Dávila Gordillo received her PhD from the Institute of Political Science of Leiden University in 2021. Before, Diana obtained an MSc in Political Science (cum laude) from the same institute in 2015 and a Bachelor in Sociology with a minor in Political Science from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador in 2011.

Diana’s research focuses on political parties’ survival, parties’ mobilizations strategies, and the mechanisms that foster changes in ethnic identities. Diana’s dissertation, “Surviving against all odds: Pachakutik’s electoral support, mobilization strategies, and goal achievement between 1996 and 2019”, proposes a theory of party survival that focuses on parties with low levels of electoral support and scarce resources. To illustrate her argument, she uses the case of Pachakutik, an indigenous party from Ecuador. As a lecturer, she teaches Qualitative Methods at the master level and small seminars on political parties and democracies at the bachelor level.

Before her master’s degree, she worked for the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility for five years. From 2009 to 2012, she was a Foreign Policy analyst based in Quito. From 2012 to 2014, she was part of the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington D.C., working as Second Secretary, Alternate Representative of Ecuador.

Personal website: dianadavilagordillo.com.

Publications