Rate My Professor Igor Acácio

Igor Acácio is an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Division of Politics, Administration, and Justice at California State University, Fullerton, where he joined the tenure-track faculty in July 2024. Prior to this role, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Tulane University’s Center for Inter-American Policy and Research and a Hans J. Morgenthau Fellow at the University of Notre Dame’s International Security Center. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside in 2022, an M.A. in Political Science from the Institute of Social and Political Studies of the State University of Rio de Janeiro, and a B.A. in International Relations from the Strategic Studies Institute of the Fluminense Federal University.

Acácio’s research focuses on civil-military relations, defense and security issues, Latin American politics, and Brazilian politics, with particular attention to military missions and roles in democratic contexts, including crisis responses like the COVID-19 pandemic and public protests. His work has been supported by fellowships from the Fulbright Program, the University of California’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, and the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. Key publications include “The militarization of responses to COVID-19 in Democratic Latin America” with A.M. Passos (Revista de Administração Pública, 2021), “The Return of the Latin American Military?” with David Pion-Berlin (Journal of Democracy, 2020), “Military responses to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Latin America: Military presence, autonomy, and human rights violations” with A.M. Passos and David Pion-Berlin (Armed Forces & Society, 2023), “Explaining military responses to protests in Latin American democracies” with David Pion-Berlin (Comparative Politics, 2022), and a contribution to “Presidentialism and Civil-Military Relations” (Springer Nature, 2025). These publications have enriched the discourse on military involvement in contemporary Latin American democracies.