Carlos Pereira, Senior Fellow at the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI) and Full Professor at FGV EBAPE – Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, is the winner of the 2025 Guillermo O'Donnell Democracy Award and Lectureship, becoming the first Brazilian to receive this prestigious distinction, which honors Latin American political scientists for their exceptional contributions to the study of democracy and development in the region. 

Created in tribute to the legacy of Guillermo O’Donnell (1936–2011) — a renowned Argentine political scientist and one of the foremost references in the study of democracy in Latin America — the award is conferred by the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). The award, held annually, recognizes Latin American scholars whose innovative research has a high intellectual impact, deepening the understanding of democratic institutions, political systems, and contemporary challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

In 2024, the honor was awarded to Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. This year, Carlos Pereira is recognized for his pioneering work on democratic resilience in Latin America, particularly focusing on the analysis of democratic backsliding in the region between 1978 and 2023. His study includes a comparative examination of four presidential cases: Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil), Álvaro Uribe (Colombia), Carlos Menem (Argentina), and Lucio Gutiérrez (Ecuador). 

"Although the award is individual, I see it as a collective recognition of my generation of political scientists in Brazil, who dared to propose an innovative interpretation of multiparty presidentialism in Latin America — challenging the dominant view that it is dysfunctional and chaotic. The global political science community, and Latin American political science in particular, would not be the same without the fundamental concepts created by Guillermo O’Donnell. Receiving this award that bears his name is, for me, a great honor," said Carlos Pereira. 

CEBRI congratulates the Senior Fellow for this well-deserved recognition, which represents a significant milestone for Brazilian political science. 

Learn more: https://wc2025.ipsa.org/wc/award/guillermo-odonnell-award-lecture