Elizabeth Zechmeister
Zechmeister, LAPOP rise to challenge of conducting phone surveys on democratic public opinion during COVID-19 pandemic
Nov. 2, 2020—The Latin American Public Opinion Project's efforts never stopped when Vanderbilt closed labs in mid-March due to COVID-19. Instead, director Elizabeth Zechmeister’s team pivoted to exclusively remote work and tackled the monumental task of overhauling research protocols to acquire data that reveals new insights about the pandemic’s effects on democracy.
LAPOP receives $10 million USAID grant to support AmericasBarometer survey
Dec. 4, 2019—Vanderbilt’s Latin American Public Opinion Project has received a $10 million, five-year USAID grant to support its influential AmericasBarometer survey and related activities.
New VURC Subcommittee for International Research and Engagement formed
Nov. 18, 2019—Faculty have been named to a new subcommittee formed by the Vanderbilt University Research Council to provide governance for the GlobalVU initiative.
Impact of Open Access on Latin American research topic of Oct. 29 talk
Oct. 21, 2019—Scholar Juan Pablo Alperin will discuss the impact of the Open Access movement on the research landscape of Latin American scholarship during a luncheon lecture and discussion Oct. 29.
Support for democracy in a slump across Americas, according to new survey
Oct. 14, 2019—Democracy is struggling for support in the Americas, according to the 2018/19 AmericasBarometer report, with just over half of all citizens expressing faith in the system for the second survey period in a row. “When citizen support for democracy is weak, it becomes difficult for nations to sustain free and fair political systems and leaves...
Open Secrets: How views of public and private life have shifted in America
Nov. 19, 2018—In an age of Cambridge Analytica, uncanny Facebook algorithms and NSA wiretapping, it seems every time we turn around, there is a new assault on that once most precious of commodities: our privacy. In reality, however, what we choose to reveal and what we keep private has long been a source of debate.
Grant funds study of social media’s role in spreading political misinformation
Nov. 14, 2018—Elizabeth Zechmeister and Noam Lupu will study the role that messaging app WhatsApp plays in the spread of political misinformation and public opinion in Latin America.
Vanderbilt professors to advise Facebook data research initiative
Jul. 16, 2018—Social Science One will study the impact of Facebook on democracy around the world. Vanderbilt political science professors Elizabeth Zechmeister and Noam Lupu will serve on the regional advisory committee focusing on research involving Latin America.
An unexpected side effect of public health education efforts in Brazil
Mar. 20, 2018—Understanding of tuberculosis is associated with higher, not lower, stigmatization of TB patients in Brazil, according to a new report from Vanderbilt’s Latin American Public Opinion Project.
Climate change concerns much higher in Latin America, Caribbean than U.S., Canada
Jan. 25, 2018—Twice as many adults in Latin America and the Caribbean--more than 80 percent--believe unchecked climate change poses a serious risk to their countries. Only 40 percent of Americans feel the same way.
Crime casts pall on Central America’s Northern Triangle
Oct. 3, 2017—LAPOP research shows that crime prevalence impacts economic progress in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras
Tolerance, participation in local government up in the Americas
Sep. 26, 2017—New data gathered by the Latin American Political Opinion Project (LAPOP) include some upticks but also discouraging news about the state of democracy in the Americas.