Laura Gamboa
Keough School of Global Affairs
Assistant Professor of Democracy and Global Affairs
- Comparative politics
- Democratic backsliding
- Parties and party systems
- Latin American politics
Gamboa’s Latest News
Gamboa in the News
Vox
How to stop a dictator
February 25, 2026
Laura Gamboa is an exception. A political scientist at the University of Notre Dame, she published a book in 2022 on strategies against backsliding used by opposition parties — contrasting Venezuela, which collapsed into dictatorship under Hugo Chávez, and Colombia, which survived a similar autocratic bid by President Álvaro Uribe.
WNDU
Notre Dame Professor on Venezuela
Video
January 07, 2026
We talked to assistant professor of democracy and global afrairs at the University of Notre Dame Laura Gamboa on the potential impacts of the U.S. government attacking and capturing the president of Venezuela.
The New York Times
3 Lessons From International Protests Amid Unrest in L.A.
June 12, 2025
“It’s all about narrative,” said Laura Gamboa, an assistant professor of democracy and global affairs at the University of Notre Dame.
Foreign Affairs
How to Save a Democracy
March 31, 2025
By Laura Gamboa, Assistant Professor of Democracy and Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame and the author of Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies Against the Erosion of Democracy.
Science Magazine
Insights from Venezuela’s Democratic Decline: Strategies for Opposition Movements to Challenge Autocratic Regimes
March 27, 2025
Laura Gamboa’s analysis highlights how such confrontational tactics buried the opposition deeper into resource scarcity, as they unwittingly handed the Chávez administration the opportunity to fortify its grip on authority and the nation’s oil wealth.
StudyFinds
How marriage counseling might just save American democracy
January 31, 2025
“Polarization threatens democracy, and finding ways to reduce it is vital,” explains Laura Gamboa, assistant professor of democracy and global affairs at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, in a statement.
The New Yorker
In South Korea, a Blueprint for Resisting Autocracy?
December 16, 2024
The large presence of young women has been particularly striking. According to Laura Gamboa, a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame and the author of “Resisting Backsliding,” which explores the strategies used to oppose autocratic turns in Colombia, Venezuela, and other countries, public participation is essential.