Steven Levitsky

Steven Levitsky (born January 17, 1968) is an American political scientist and Professor of Government at Harvard University. A comparative political scientist, his research interests focus on Latin America, including political parties and party systems, authoritarianism and democratization, and weak and informal institutions. He is notable for his work on competitive authoritarian regimes and informal political institutions.

At Harvard, Levitsky also serves on the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Executive Committees and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. Levitsky received a B.A. in political science from Stanford University in 1990 and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1999.

After obtaining his Ph.D. in 1999, Levitsky was a visiting fellow at the University of Notre Dame's Kellogg Institute for International Studies. He joined Harvard University as an Assistant Professor of Government in 2000. There, he served as the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences (2004-2008) before receiving tenure as Professor of Government in 2008.

At Harvard, Levitsky also sits on the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Executive Committees and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. Levitsky is an advisor to several student organizations, including the Harvard Association Cultivating Inter-American Democracy (HACIA Democracy) and the POLITAI Civil Association at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, where he also taught as a visiting scholar.