Keynote Series – Doctorate in Contemporary Studies – Ivan Filipe Fernandes

The Doctorate in Contemporary Studies (DEC) is resuming its Keynote Series for the new academic year. Guest lecturer Ivan Fernandes, professor and coordinator of the Doctoral programme in Public Policy at the Federal University of ABC (Brazil), will give a lecture on Democracia e Desigualdade (Democracy and Inequality) in the CEIS20 Seminar Room on 25 September at 14:30 (admission is free).
Ivan will also be present at other initiatives taking place between 26 and 28 September in different venues at FLUC and FEUC (see full programme below).

Abstract
This lecture deals with a subject that is as important as it is controversial: the impact of democratic political systems on a fairer distribution of income in contemporary societies. This debate has long preoccupied thinkers and analysts. The paper addresses the rich literature on inequality produced by economists and social scientists since the 19th century. Using large databases on comparative political economy, the research shows that the effects of democracy on inequality are not the same everywhere, but depend on the socio-economic context in which income inequality is produced. The heterogeneity of the effects of democratic systems on income distribution is the main empirical conclusion of the study. A political explanation is proposed. There must be parties that have an interest in waving the electoral banner of greater equality, and a large number of voters whose objective situation leads them to demand redistributive policies. Only in the most unequal societies do political parties have an interest in offering more redistributive policies, and there tends to be a demand for redistribution from a majority of voters. In this way, democracy, despite its current problems, would still be a protective cushion to minimise major situations of inequality.

Biography
Ivan Filipe Fernandes is professor and coordinator of the Doctoral Programme in Public Policy at the Federal University of ABC, Brazil. He also coordinates the Foreign Policy Observatory at CEBRAP Press (Brazilian Centre for Analysis and Planning), together with Professor Maria Hermínia Tavares de Almeida. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of São Paulo (2014). He was a visiting researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (2012). His research focuses on topics such as bureaucratic politics, accountability, pandemic public policy, public opinion in foreign policy, and the relationship between democracy, development, and social inequality. His research has been published in journals such as Economic Letters, International Political Science Review, Latin American Research Review, Plos One, Development in Practice e Foreign Policy Analysis, among others.