I am an Associate Professor of Political Science. My research areas are democratic political institutions, democratization, legislative politics, electoral systems, corruption, and comparative and international political economy. I am particularly interested in the issues of governability, quality of democracy, accountability, and representation. My research seeks to shed light into these important questions by examining how various formal and informal institutions create different incentives and constraints for political actors and how these differing conditions generate varying social, economic, and political outcomes.

In the Political Science Department, I teach graduate and undergraduate courses on democratization, political institutions, political development, political economy, developing countries, Latin American and Brazilian politics, and research methods. I am also a contributing faculty member for Latin American and Border Studies, Brazilian Studies, Asian Studies, and Intelligence and National Security Studies.

Since 2008, I have been the faculty advisor for the Epsilon Epsilon (UTEP) Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society. I believe that participation and involvement are an integral part of active learning. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to help students develop vital skills and experiences such as leadership, grant proposal writing, event planning, and community service. These skills and experiences are not only central to their lifetime success, but also crucial to be a good democratic citizen.

Currently, I am  Director of Graduate Studies for the Political Science MA program. We offer a high quality graduate education with a modest tuition in an affordable, safe, and exciting city. We also offer a limited number of graduate assistantships and scholarships to qualified graduate students on a competitive basis. Feel free to email me (thiroi@utep.edu) if you have any questions about our graduate program.

|URL: http://faculty.utep.edu/thiroi|