"Spotlight on..." New Doctoral Researcher Eduardo Ryô Tamaki

Eduardo joined the GIGA as a doctoral researcher in the DEMINGS project, which analyses Democratic Institutions in the Global South, in April. In his dissertation he wants to look at Populism and its Impact on Liberal Democrarcy. He holds a Masters in Political Science from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Get to know Eduardo and his dissertation project in the interview below.

How would you explain your research topic to your grandmother?

Ok, grandma: they say that there are two different types of populism: one that is ‘exclusionary,’ or that revolves around the idea of ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ that is highly exclusive, and one that is more inclusive. Think of it like a horizontal and vertical axis, where one is not only fighting the elite (vertical) but is also worried about defining what ‘belongs’ to the ‘in-group’ and, consequently, excluding ‘aliens’ from it (horizontally). So, in theory, both types would have different impacts on democratic attitudes or institutions. Or would they? I believe, and this is the (working) title of my dissertation, that in the end, all roads lead to Rome, meaning that regardless of its subtype, populism holds a ‘complicated’ relationship with liberal democracy. And this is what we will study.

What are you looking most forward to during your PhD studies?

To (hopefully) get my survey/experiment running.

If you could choose one person to discuss your research topic with, who would that be?

Cas Mudde or Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser.

Qualitative or quantitative?

Quantitative – I like to run the models, suffer to interpret them, and try to make sense of the world from the results.

Big conference or small workshop?

Small workshops – I like the more ‘personal’ touch that small workshops can have.

Theory or practice?

Practice – And I do not have a good explanation for why.

Paperback book or eBook?

Paperback book – Well, I do not know why, but I cannot quite focus when reading an eBook. Besides that, I love the smell of a new book!

Reading or writing?

Reading – In reality, I think I like both. I enjoy reading and learning new stuff and putting them to use, trying to stitch them together when writing.