I am an Associate Professor of Political Science a the U.S. Naval Academy, where I teach courses on comparative politics and Latin American politics.

My research focuses on the effects of political institutions on democratic stability, policymaking, and governance, with a particular focus on Latin America.  One of my primary areas of interest is how the executive branch of government exercises power and how presidents interact with legislatures and their own bureaucracies. I also study presidential (in)stability, security, and the design of electoral institutions. I have published peer-reviewed articles in places such as The Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Electoral Studies, Democratization, Latin American Politics and Society, and The Latin American Research Review, as well as dozens more editor-reviewed articles, book chapters, policy papers, and op-eds.

My recently published a co-edited volume, Authoritarian Consolidation in Times of Crisis: Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro, is available from Routledge Press:

Outside of the classroom, I have given briefings to the US State Department, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and US Southern Command on issues related to Latin American politics, and I have served as electoral systems expert for the Organization of American States (OAS) electoral observation team in Ecuador. In addition, I have participated in working groups examining Venezuela’s political crisis for the Council on Foreign Relations, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the United States Institute of Peace, and the Atlantic Council. I have been quoted in the national press, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and The Atlantic Monthly, among others. A native English speaker, I am fluent in Spanish and also speak Portuguese.

​Please contact me if you have any questions about my work or data.

John Polga-Hecimovich
Political Science Department
United States Naval Academy
105 Maryland Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5030
polgahec(at)usna(dot)edu