Marques Zárate

Assistant Professor of Political Science
111 Thayer Street, Room 306
Areas of Expertise Democracy & Elections, Race, Identity & Ethnicity
Areas of Interest American Politics; Racial and Ethnic Politics; Latine Politics; Political Behavior; Public Opinion; Political Psychology

Biography

Marques Zárate is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Brown University. He is primarily interested in the role that race and identity have in shaping political attitudes and behaviors in the United States. For example, in previous work, he examined how Hispanic Americans use variation in the accent and quality of candidates’ Spanish-language appeals to judge the ability and willingness of that candidate to represent Hispanic voters. Much of his current work investigates how policy racial relevance, or beliefs about how a policy affects different social groups, structures policy attitudes in the United States. His research has been published in the American Political Science Review and Political Communication. Before joining Brown, Marques received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Rice University.

Research

As a scholar of American political behavior, my research seeks to examine the role that identity has in shaping political attitudes and behaviors in the United States. Two substantive themes are present in my research. In one, I investigate how identity-based appeals shape candidate evaluations. In the other, I investigate how group-policy associations predict policy attitudes. Together, my research speaks to scholars of racial and ethnic politics (REP), political psychology, and public opinion.

Publications

Zárate, Marques G., Enrique Quezada-Llanes, and Angel D. Armenta. "Se Habla Español: Spanish-Language Appeals and Candidate Evaluations in the United States." American Political Science Review 118.1 (2024): 363-379.

Zárate, Marques G. "Dimensions of Pandering Perceptions Among Hispanic Americans and Their Effect on Political Trust." Political Communication 40.4 (2023): 440-463.

Teaching

POLS 1825S: Latine Politics in the United States

POLS 2015: Seminar in Political Behavior