Dr William Aviles

Professor

Office: COPH 207A   |    Phone: (308) 865-8776   |    Email: avilesw1@unk.edu

Dr. William Aviles

Biography

B.A., Florida International University
Ph.D., University of California - Riverside
Hometown: Miami, Florida
Joined UNK Faculty: 2002

Comparative Politics, Latin American Politics 

People who study comparative politics focus on political systems in other countries, and how governments promote or inhibit the aspirations of the people.   Important questions driving inquiry in this subfield include:

  • How do the rules and structures of government institutions influence the policy outcomes government produces?  How do office holders employ those rules to produced desired policy outcomes?
  • What is the relationship between economic inequality and the quality of democratic regimes?  What is the extent of democratic consolidation in countries that have recently transitioned to democracies? What are the potential obstacles to democratic consolidation?
  • How do parties, interest groups and/or social movements vary in terms of their capacity to influence policy outcomes within a specific region and/or globally?
  • What is the relationship between globalization and liberal markets with changes in political culture, power and ideas within a given nation-state?
  • Why does political violence emerge and vary around the world and how has it changed over time?

On working with undergraduate students:
“I enjoy many of the conversations and discussions that I have had with students in and outside of the classroom.  I like exposing them to new ideas, new ways of thinking about politics, Latin America or the ‘drug war.’  Finally, I appreciate the hard work, dedication and commitment that students in our department have displayed despite the often serious obstacles that confront them.”

Favorite political quote:
“Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.”--Karl Marx


Courses



Recent Publications