Manuel Melendez Sanchez

El Salvador

MSc Politics Research, 2017
St Antony's College
Funding: Oxford-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann

Manuel is currently a PhD student in Government at Harvard University. He studies comparative politics and the political economy of development, with a regional focus on Mexico and Central America. His current projects centre on political parties, criminal organizations, and the relationship between the two. His research has been funded by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, the Institute for Quantitative Social Science, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and the Weiss Family Program Fund.

As a Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholar, Manuel was a member of St. Antony’s College and received an MSc in Politics Research. His master’s thesis explored how vulnerable political parties can avoid breaking down during periods of adversity. Before coming to Oxford, Manuel completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard, where he helped lead the Harvard Association Cultivating Inter-American Democracy (HACIA Democracy) and the Harvard International Relations Council (IRC).

Manuel was born and raised in El Salvador. In addition to Oxford, Boston, and El Salvador, he has worked and lived Chile. The thing he misses most about Oxford is Viny’s on North Parade.

Manuel is currently based in San Francisco, CA, USA.