Sandra Ley - Faculty
Sandra Ley
Distinguished Professor in Political Science
School of Social Sciences and Government
School of Government and Public Transformation
Expertise
Political Science
Political Behavior
Criminal Violence in Mexico
Overview
Dr. Sandra Ley is a respected expert in Political Science, specializing in the political consequences of criminal activity. She has conducted comprehensive fieldwork across northern and southern Mexico, collaborating extensively with various organizations and sectors of civil society. Her current research is particularly focused on the strategies and impacts of criminal governance. Due to her significant contributions to the study of armed violence, she is a member of the Lancet Commission on Gun Violence and Public Health.
Between 2023 and 2024, Dr. Ley served as the Coordinator of the Security Program at México Evalúa, a prominent Mexican think tank. From 2015 to 2023, she built a prolific academic career as an associate professor in the Political Studies Division at the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), authoring over twenty publications in international peer-reviewed journals, focusing on criminal violence in Mexico and its effects on political behavior. Before joining CIDE, she was a visiting fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
Among her numerous accolades is the 2021 Democracy & Autocracy Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association for her book Votes, Drugs, and Violence, co-authored with Guillermo Trejo. Her scholarly articles have also received awards from the AmericasBarometer, Comparative Political Studies, and the Journal of Peace Research.
Her current research at Tec has received funding from Innovations for Poverty Action and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation.
Dr. Sandra Ley joined Tecnológico de Monterrey as Distinguished Professor in Political Science for the School of Social Sciences and Government and for the School of Government and Public Transformation.
Education and Training
- Ph.D. in Political Science, Duke University
- M.A. in Political Science, Duke University
- B.A. in Political Science and International Relations, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Publications
- Ley, Sandra, Céline González, and Itzel Soto. 2024. Democracia Vulnerada: El crimen organizado en las elecciones y la administración pública en México. Data Cívica-México Evalúa-Animal Político. Mexico City.
- Ventura, Tiago, Sandra Ley, and Francisco Cantú. 2023. “Voting for Law and Order: Evidence From a Survey Experiment in Mexico.” Comparative Political Studies, 57(4), 551-583.
- Trejo, Guillermo and Sandra Ley. 2020. Votes, Drugs, and Violence. The Political Logic of Criminal Wars in Mexico. Cambridge University Press. (2021 Democracy & Autocracy Best Book Award, APSA).
- Ley, Sandra. 2022. “High-risk participation: Demanding peace and justice amid criminal violence.” Journal of Peace Research, 59(6), 794-809 (2022 Nils Petter Gleditsch JPR article of the Year Award).
- Altamirano, Melina, Sarah Berens, and Sandra Ley. 2020. “The Welfare State amid Crime: How Victimization and Perceptions of Insecurity Affect Social Policy Preferences in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Politics and Society 48(3), 389-422, Special issue on “Societies under Stress.” (2021 Seligson Prize from The AmericasBarometer).