Tara Hein is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Government at Harvard University. Her research examines citizen–state relations in Latin America. Specifically, she is interested in how perceptions of state failure drive disengagement from democratic institutions or support for undemocratic alternatives. She focuses on high-performing democracies where support for democracy has declined despite strong institutions.
Originally from Monteverde, Costa Rica, Tara holds a BA in Political Science with Interdisciplinary Honors in Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law from Stanford University. Before Harvard, she served as Democracy Impact Coordinator at VélezReyes+, a philanthropic platform working to strengthen democratic governance across the region.
Contact
tarahein@g.harvard.edu
1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
Subfields
Comparative Politics
Academic Interests
Democracy | Institutions | Political Economy & Development | Social Policy & the Welfare State | State-Society relations | Voter Behavior
Research Methods
Experiments | Qualitative Methods | Quantitative Methods | Surveys
Geographic Regions of Study
Latin America