My research explores different factors affecting political behavior, ideology and attitudes, including exposure to immigration, elections, state indoctrination and access to the Internet. Currently, I am researching about ideology, south-south migration, individualistic attitudes and ideological gender gaps.

I use various quantitative methods: experiments, quasi-experiments with observational data, and text analysis, always prioritizing causal identification. My research has been published in Comparative Political Studies, PLoS One, the European Political Science Review, International Interactions, and Nature Partner Journal Vaccines, among others.

Before my PhD at Columbia University, I worked in the Chilean government, in a political campaign and completed a Master’s in Public Administration.

Cinque Terre, Italy
Cinque Terre, Italy
Political Behavior Political Attitudes Immigration Ideology Latin America Quantitative Methods

On Political Behavior

Comparative Political Studies · 2025
The Anti-Left Legacy of the Pinochet Dictatorship
Argote, P. & Voytas, E.
Latin American Politics and Society · 2025 · 67(4), 80–103
Causes and Consequences of Ideological Persistence
Argote, P. & Visconti, G.
Latin American Politics and Society · 2025 · 67(4), 117–123
Beyond Rejection: Ideological Belonging in a Weak-Party System
Argote, P. & Visconti, G.
Revista de Ciencia Política · 2025 · 45(2)
Chile 2024: The Resilience of Ideology and the Rise of Anti-Elite Attitudes
Visconti, G. & Argote, P.
PLOS ONE · 2023 · 18(10)
Anti-Elite Attitudes and Support for Independent Candidates
Argote, P. & Visconti, G.
International Interactions · 2024 · 1–15
The Formation of Attitudes Toward Immigration in Colombia
Argote, P. & Daly, S.
Journal of International Migration & Integration · 2024
Explaining the Impact of South-South Migration: Evidence from Chile’s Immigration Boom
Argote, P. & Perelló, L.
European Political Science Review · 2020 · 12(2), 173–197
Incumbency Advantage and Shocks in the Electorate: The Adoption of Voluntary Voting
Argote, P.
Journal of Latin American Studies · 2021 · 53(3), 547–571
Does Voluntary Voting Enhance Partisan Bias? Evidence from Chile
Argote, P.
Journal of Politics in Latin America · 2018 · 10(1), 3–28
Do Voters Affect or Elect Policies? Within-Coalition Competition in the Chilean Electoral System
Argote, P. & Navia, P.

On Survey Research Methods

PLOS ONE · 2021 · 16(10)
Messaging Interventions that Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Willingness in Latin America
Argote, P., Marshall, J., Daly, S., Pocasangre, O., Barham, E., & Gerez, J.
npj Vaccines · 2021 · 6(1), 1–9
The Shot, the Message, and the Messenger: COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in Latin America
Argote, P., Marshall, J., Daly, S., Pocasangre, O., Barham, E., & Gerez, J.
Current Opinion in Psychology · 2023
Interventions to Counter Misinformation: Lessons from the Global North and Applications to the Global South
Blair, R., Gottlieb, J., Argote, P., Stainfield, C., Paler, L., & Nyhan, B.

On Political Elites

Democratization · 2025 · 1–25
Shade-Grown Authoritarianism? Revisiting Coffee as a Curse in Latin America and the Caribbean
Perelló, L., Argote, P., & Navia, P.
RSF: Russell Sage Foundation Journal · 2024 · 10(1), 181–204
Politics Matter: How Political Experience Mitigates School Disruption on Children Outcomes
Argote, P. & Alcaíno, M.

Work in Progress

Thick and Thin Ideology
with Visconti & de la Cerda
Ideology in Two-Round Elections
with Visconti & Rivera
COVID-19 and Immigration Attitudes
with Sarah Daly
Internet Access and Gender Attitudes
with Daniela Urbina
Unpacking the Voting Gender Gap
with Lisa Basil
Authoritarian Indoctrination
with Jaime Lindh
Labor Informality and Immigration
with Miguel Carreras

Book Project

Ideology Without Parties: Voting Behavior in Chile
with Giancarlo Visconti

Book Chapters (Spanish)

Propuestas para Mejorar el Presidencialismo Multi-Partidista
In Partidos Políticos en Chile. CED & Konrad Adenauer Foundation, 2022
Modelos de Democracia y Sistema Político
with Eguiguren, J.M. · In Diálogos Constitucionales. CED & Konrad Adenauer Foundation, 2022

Instructor — University of Southern California

Introduction to Comparative Politics
Dept. of Political Science · Undergraduate
Fall 2024 · Fall 2025 · Spring 2026
Comparative Political Institutions
Dept. of Political Science · Undergraduate
Spring 2026

Seminar Leader — Oxford University

Evidence in Public Policy
Blavatnik School of Government · Graduate · Supervisors: Julien Labonne and Kate Orkin
2023

Teaching Assistant — Columbia University

Principles of Quantitative Political Research I
Undergraduate · Instructor: Robert Shapiro
Spring 2021
Research Design: Data Analysis
Undergraduate · Instructor: Shigeo Hirano
Fall 2020
Applied Regression and Causal Inference
PhD level · Instructor: Andrew Gelman
Spring 2020
Multivariate Political Analysis
PhD level · Instructor: Shigeo Hirano
Fall 2018 · Fall 2019
Scope and Methods
Undergraduate · Instructor: Dan Corstange
Spring 2018

Teaching Assistant — Universidad Católica de Chile

Introduction to Political Theory
Dept. of Political Science · Undergraduate
2008–2010
Download Full CV (PDF)
Employment
2023–Present

Provost Postdoctoral Fellow

Department of Political Science, University of Southern California

Education
2023

PhD in Political Science — Columbia University

Major: Comparative Politics · Minor: Quantitative Methods

2015

Master in Public Policy — New York University

2010

BA in Sociology — Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Awards & Grants
2025

Center for International Studies Grant — USC

To study voting gender gaps in the United States

2023–24

Center for International Studies Grant — USC

$3,000

2020

ISERP Research Grant — Columbia University

$20,000

2020

Columbia Dissertation Grant

$1,800

2019

ILAS Grant — Columbia University

$2,000

2017–22

Dean’s Fellow — Columbia University

2013–15

Becas Chile

Referee Service
AJPSCPSPolitical StudiesJPLAVaccinePLOS ONEICSDemocratizationPolitical BehaviorLAPS
Languages & Software
Languages

Spanish (native) · English (fluent)

Advanced

STATA · LaTeX · R

Basic

QGIS · Python

📅 Friday, March 6, 2026 🕐 11:00 am (~1.5 hours) 📍 SOS B40 Seminar Room

About the Workshop

Survey data is available everywhere. However, we should not assume it is always high-quality, representative, or reliable. In fact, the current flurry of data sources and AI tools makes it more important than ever to have the skills to judge the quality of the measures we use. This will allow us to rigorously analyze survey data and answer substantive research questions.

Goals

Present & Get Feedback
Provide a platform for graduate students, postdocs, and assistant professors to present ongoing work and receive feedback from an expert audience.
Learn Core Tools
Learn core statistical and practical tools to work with existing survey data and design a new survey from scratch — including building post-stratification weights, implementing multiple regression and post-stratification (MRP), using Qualtrics, designing appropriate survey questions, and designing and analyzing survey experiments, among others.
Build a Network
Create a network of social scientists at USC who work with survey data, facilitating the sharing of skills, practical knowledge, and contacts in the survey research world.

Audience

The audience for this workshop is primarily USC graduate students in Political Science, Sociology, and other social science departments. Because the workshop has a strong “how-to” component, it will be especially helpful for students who lack practical skills in this area but want to use survey data in their dissertations.