Andrew Janusz
Assistant Professor | University of Florida
Gainesville, FL, UNITED STATES
Andrew Janusz is an expert on elections, political behavior and racial identity in Latin America; particularly in Brazilian politics.
Biography
Andrew Janusz is an assistant professor in the department of political science at the University of Florida. Andrew's research focuses on racial identity, political behavior and representation in Latin America. In Andrew's current book project, he explores patterns of racial identification among Brazilian politicians, investigates barriers to Afro-Brazilian electoral success and examines how the descriptive underrepresentation of Afro-descendants in Brazil's political arena influence policy outcomes.
Areas of Expertise (3)
Brazilian Politics and Elections
Political Representation in Latin America
Race and Ethnic Politics
Media Appearances (4)
Why did thousands of Brazilian politicians change their race?
CNN online
2021-04-10
Last year, more than 43,400 politicians in Brazil declared themselves to be a different race than in previous election years. Since 2014, Brazil has required electoral candidates to declare their “color/race,” picking from among “Black,” “White,” “Brown,” “Yellow,” and “Indigenous.”
Thousands of Brazilians who won elections as Black candidates in 2020 previously ran for office as white
The Conversation online
2021-01-08
Brazil is undergoing a strange racial reckoning after bombshell revelations that thousands of veteran politicians had changed their self-identified race between the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Thousands of Brazilian candidates 'switched' racial identities this year
The Washington Post online
2020-12-08
Aspiring politicians in Brazil’s local elections last month sought all possible advantages. They donned costumes and produced ads with catchy jingles. Some even dropped their own name for a more recognizable moniker.
Perfil médio do candidato nas eleições é homem, negro, casado e com ensino médio
G1 online
2020-06-01
Homem, negro, casado, com 46 anos e ensino médio completo. Esse é o perfil médio dos candidatos que disputam as eleições deste ano. Esta é a primeira vez desde 2014, quando o Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE) começou a coletar dados de raça, em que o candidato médio é negro. Nas eleições anteriores, a cor de pele mais comum era a branca.
Articles (3)
Candidate Advertisements and Afro-Brazilian Political Marginalization
Latin American Research ReviewAndrew Janusz and Luiz Augusto Campos
2021-12-07
Television is an important political tool in Latin America. In recognition of its ability to shape public opinion and influence political behavior, Brazilian electoral authorities provide political parties with free television airtime in the weeks preceding elections. While Brazil’s publicly financed electoral program levels the playing field between parties, it may contribute to intraparty resource disparities.
Candidate Race and Campaign Resources in Brazilian Mayoral Elections
Political Research QuarterlyAndrew Janusz
2021-07-22
Elected officials routinely do not reflect the racial diversity of the citizenry. In Latin America, these descriptive gaps are particularly pronounced. A growing number of studies investigate the causes of racial disparities in representation, however, extant research largely focuses on national assemblies. In this paper, I extend this well-trod line of research to an understudied context, local elections.
Electoral incentives and elite racial identification: Why Brazilian politicians change their race
Electoral StudiesAndrew Janusz
2021-05-13
Scholars recognize that individuals change how they racially identify themselves over time and even from situation to situation. Politicians, however, are typically presumed to have stable, innate racial identities. In this article, I contend that politicians strategically change their self-professed race in response to electoral incentives.
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