He holds a bachelor's degree in History from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (1982), a Master's degree in Sociology from the University of São Paulo (1991) and a doctor of Political Science - Stanford University (2000). He is currently associate professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation - SP. He has experience in Political Science, with emphasis on Elections, Parties and Political Coalitions, working mainly on the following topics: comparative politics, subnational politics, democracy, political parties and elections, federalism and decentralization, public policies.