The Pulse of Democracy in the Americas: 2026 AmericasBarometer Policy Forum

The University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and Vanderbilt University's Center for Global Democracy, in partnership with Inter-American Dialogue, invite you to join policymakers, congressional staff, scholars, civil society leaders and democracy practitioners for The Pulse of Democracy in the Americas, a policy forum marking the release of the 2026 AmericasBarometer regional report.

Drawing on one of the world's most comprehensive cross-national public opinion studies, the forum will examine new evidence from the 2026 AmericasBarometer on democratic resilience, institutional trust, governance, migration, public security, and political change across the Americas and explore the implications of these findings for policymakers, practitioners and democratic institutions.

This year's report expands the AmericasBarometer in important ways, including Cuba in the dataset for the first time and extending its comparative framework to include the United States and Canada alongside Latin America and the Caribbean.
 

Coffee and Networking 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.

Program 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Welcome and Opening Remarks

• Maura Policelli, Executive Director, Washington Office, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame

Key Findings from the 2026 AmericasBarometer

• Mariana Rodríguez Vargas, Director of Research & Engagement at the Center for Global Democracy and LAPOP Lab, Vanderbilt University

From Public Opinion to Policy: Understanding Democratic Change Across the Americas

• Moderator: Mary Gallagher, Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs

Panelists

• Noam Lupu, Director, Center for Global Democracy, Vanderbilt University
• Abby Córdova, Associate Professor of Global Affairs, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame
• Rebecca Bill Chavez, President & CEO, Inter-American Dialogue
• Oliver Stuenkel, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The Future of Democracy in the Americas: A Fireside Conversation

• Juan Cruz, Senior Advisor (Non-resident) of the Americas Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

11:00 a.m.
Adjourn