Cecilia Pe Lero

Rua Coari 88, São Paulo

05022-030 Brasil
cecilia.lero@gmail.com
+55.11.9.8112.7983 +63.917.800.9448

EDUCATION

2019 Ph.D. in Political Science

University of Notre Dame
Fields: Comparative Politics and International Relations
Dissertation: Social Movements in New Democracies: Specialization and Ownership
Committee: Michael Coppedge (chair), Rory McVeigh, Guillermo Trejo

2013 M.A. in Political Science

University of Notre Dame

2006 B.A. magna cum laude in Politics

New York University

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Social movements
Democratization
Political violence
State-society relations

PUBLICATIONS

Under Review

“Policy Deliberation and Voter Persuasion: Experimental Evidence from an Election in the
Philippines” with Leonard Wantchekon, Gabriel López-Moctezuma, Thomas Fujiwara, and Daniel
Rubenson (R&R at American Journal of Political Science)

Book Chapters

Bello, Walden and Cecilia Lero. 2019. “Prescript to Brazil’s Embrace of Bolsonaro” in Bello,
Walden Counterrevolution: The Global Rise of the Far Right, Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing.

Lero, Cecilia. 2010 “The Co-optation of the Appointments Process in the Philippines” in Fabros,
Aya (ed.) Project 2010: Confronting the Legacy of the GMA Regime, Quezon City: Focus on the
Global South.

Working Papers

“Populist Presidents in Developing Democracies: The Cases of Duterte and Trump”

“Economic Rights as an Extension of the Fight for Democracy: The Philippine Coconut Levy
Campaign”
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Non-Academic Articles

Lero, Cecilia. 2017. “What I learned from being featured by the Duterte online machine.” 10 October,
Rappler

Bello, Walden and Cecilia Lero. 2015. “Can the Workers’ Party Surmount its Current Crisis?”
Published 1 November in TeleSur and 4 November in Rappler

Lero, Cecilia. 2013 “The Struggle against Pork Barrel.” September, SocDem Asia Quarterly

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS

2016 University of Notre Dame Dissertation Year Fellowship

2015 USAID Research and Innovation Fellowship
2014 Kellogg Institute for International Studies Graduate Research Grant
2012 Kellogg Institute for International Studies Professionalization Grant
2011 The Graduate School at Notre Dame Graduate Student Professional Development
Grant
2011 Institute for Scholarship in Liberal Arts at the University of Notre Dame Graduate
Student Professional Development Award
2010-2015 Kellogg Institute Ph.D. Fellowship

PRESENTATIONS

2017 “Federalism and Constitutional Change in the Philippines: Implications for Labor”
Confederation of Independent Unions in the Public Sector Conference on National Labor
Policy
Quezon City, Philippines

2016 “Federalism and Constitutional Change in the Philippines: A Comparative Perspective”

Akbayan Youth National Congress
Quezon City, Philippines

2014 “Electoral Field Experiments in the Philippines” with Leonard Wantchekon, Gabriel
López-Moctezuma, Thomas Fujiwara, and Daniel Rubenson
New York University

2014 “Political Party Development and Political Systems”

The Asia Foundation Political and Organizational Management Course for Community-
based Party Activists and Organizers
Samal City, Philippines

2012 "Activating Rights: Social Movements and Courts in Transitions to Democracy"

Comparative Politics Discussion Seminar
University of Notre Dame

2011 “Youth and Digital Activism in Non-Violent Struggle”

Dai Hoi 6, International Vietnamese Youth Conference
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Manila, Philippines

2011 “Conditional Cash Transfers and Political Parties”

Comparative Politics Discussion Seminar
University of Notre Dame

2008 “Non-violent Conflict in the Philippine Struggle for Democracy – Strategies and Tactics”
Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade

2008 “Election Forensics Part II: The effect of socioeconomic variables on support for reform
candidates in Philippine Elections”
The Institute for Popular Democracy Political Reform Research Presentation Series
Quezon City, Philippines

2008 “Breaking Local Monopolies of Power – Pampanga Election Forensics”

Philippine Political Science Association International Conference
Siliman University, Dumaguete, Philippines

2008 “Jun Lozada and the Political Backfire Process”

Popular Education for People’s Empowerment & Kaalagad ng Katipunang Kristyano
Quezon City, Philippines

2007 “Election Forensics – The Idea and the Tool: Regression analysis for interpreting elections”
The Institute for Popular Democracy Political Reform Research Presentation Series
Quezon City, Philippines

2007 “The Military and Elections: The Victories of Trillianes and Honasan and Philippine
Political Culture.”
UP Samahan sa Agham Pampulitika forum on the 2007 Elections
University of the Philippines at Diliman

SPECIALIZED TRAINING

2012 Conducting Empirical Legal Scholarship Workshop,

University of Southern California Gould School of Law

2011 Stanford Summer Institute for Political Psychology,

Stanford University

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

Policy Consultant and Political Officer for Metro Manila, Office of Congressman Tom Villarin,
House of Representatives, Philippines (2016-2017)

Policy and Political Consultant, Office of Senator Alan Cayetano, Senate, Philippines (2013-2015,
2016)
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Director for Policy, Research, and Political Intelligence, Alan Cayetano for Senator Campaign,
Philippines (2013)

Project Coordinator, Varieties of Democracy Research Project, University of Notre Dame (2011-
2012)

Researcher and Writer for Policy and Political Mapping, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino for President
Campaign, Philippines (2010)

Program Assistant for the Women’s Political Participation team, National Democratic Institute for
International Affairs (NDI), Washington DC (2008-2010)

Trainer, Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies, Belgrade, Serbia (2008-present)

Research Associate for the Political Reform and Social Movements units, Institute for Popular Democracy,
Quezon City, Philippines (2007-2008)

SKILLS

Data Analysis: Stata, Cytoscape (basic knowledge)

Languages: English (native), Filipino (fluent), Spanish (advanced), Portuguese (advanced reading,
intermediate writing)

PERSONAL

U.S. and Philippine citizen