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Valentina Gonzalez-Rostani

Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations
Valentina Gonzalez-Rostani
Pronouns She / Her / Hers Email gonzalez.rostani@usc.edu

Research & Practice Areas

Political Economy & Political Methodology

Biography

Name: Valentina González-Rostani (González and Rostani are both my last names).

 

 
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California. I am also affiliated with the Mobilization and Political Economy NSF-REU program at the University of Pittsburgh. Before joining USC, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Politics at Princeton University, where I was affiliated with the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice. I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 2024. Before moving to the U.S., I earned an MA in Public Policy from the Universidad Católica del Uruguay and a BA in Public Accounting from the Universidad de la República. I have also worked professionally in KPMG’s Tax Department, served as a political organizer, and advised national congress members in Uruguay on topics related to economics, labor, and budget.
 
My research focuses on how technological change impacts individual political behavior and influences the evolution of party systems. I use mixed-methods approaches, combining quantitative analysis, text-as-data, survey experiments, and formal modeling to study the interaction of economic, cultural, and institutional factors. My research interests also include international trade, inequality, and political methodology. I am currently developing machine learning tools to measure populism and leveraging large language models (LLMs) to identify topics and stances in political discourse. My work has been published in journals such as The Journal of Politics, Economics & Politics, and Legislative Studies Quarterly. You can explore my ongoing research projects and access teaching materials here.
 
Beyond academia, I serve as the co-director of Razones y Personas, a 14-year-old blog focused on improving public policies and discussing social phenomena from the perspective of researchers, with an emphasis on reaching a broader audience. In this role, I coordinate a team of over 50 social scientists—including economists, political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, historians, and others—and we publish new blog entries every week. This large interdisciplinary team conducts research or works in public policy in areas such as criminology, drugs, political economy, and education, with a particular focus on Latin America and Uruguay.
 
 
To view an updated copy of my CV, click here

Education

  • Ph.D. Political Science, University of Pittsburgh, 2024
  • M.A. Political Science, University of Pittsburgh, 2021
  • M.S. Master in Public Policies (MPP), Universidad Catolica del Uruguay, 2019
  • B.A. Accounting, Universidad de la Republica, 2015
    • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University, 2024-2025

  • Summary Statement of Research Interests

    I specialize in political economy, focusing on understanding how and to what extent economic polarization (a disappearing middle class) fuels political polarization (disappearing moderate parties, candidates, and voters). My research offers novel insights into the political economy of job automation, the primary driver of economic polarization, by examining the mechanisms that connect this phenomenon to individuals’ political attitudes and the interplay between economic, cultural, and institutional factors. Studying these phenomena effectively demands rigorous empirical methods. Thus, I am also working on developing new methodological tools, such as hierarchical models with spatial autocorrelation, and a computational method to measure populism.

    Research Specialties

    Political Economy & Political Methodology

  • Journal Article

    • González-Rostani, V., Togami, C., Lopez-Santana, M., Ramirez, T., Tormos-Aponte, F., Velez-Serrano, M. (2025). Engaging Diversity: An Inclusive Approach to Undergraduate Mentorship in Mobilization and Political Economy. PS: Political Science & Politics.
    • González-Rostani, V. (2025). Elections, Right-wing Populism, and Political-Economic Polarization: The Role of Institutions and Political Outsiders. The Journal of Politics. First View
    • Chavarría-Mora, E., Chen, C., González-Rostani, V., Morgenstern, S. (2024). How Germane are Moral and Economic Policies to Ideology? Evidence from Latin American Legislators. Legislative Legislative Studies Quarterly. First View
    • González-Rostani, V., Incio, J., Lezama, G. (2024). Social Media versus Surveys: A New Scalable Approach to Understanding Political Discourse. Legislative Legislative Studies Quarterly. First View
    • González-Rostani, V. (2024). Engaged Robots, and Disengaged Workers: Automation and Political Apathy. Economics & Politics. First View
    • González-Rostani, V., Morgenstern, S. (2023). Legislators’ Religiosity and Same-Sex Marriage in Latin America. First View
    • Todo robot es político! (Every robot is political!), June 16, 2022. Published at Razones y Personas (with Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License)

      , 2022-2023

    • La noche de la nostalgia (The night of nostalgia), October 12, 2023. Published at Razones y Personas (with Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License)., 2023-2024
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