I am a Ph.D. student in Public Administration at Rutgers University–Newark, a Fulbright Scholar, and a 2026 Founders’ Fellow of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). I hold a Master’s in Management and Public Policies (MGPP) and a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Chile, where I am also affiliated with the Center for Public Systems in the Industrial Engineering Department.
My research lies at the intersection of behavioral public administration, public management, and comparative politics. I study how institutional rules, work organization, and political leadership shape bureaucratic behavior, government performance, and citizens’ evaluations of public services. My work focuses primarily on Latin America and the United States and uses mixed methods, including survey experiments, longitudinal surveys, administrative panel data, and qualitative interviews. Within this broader agenda, I examine how civil service systems, telework, performance management, and procedural transparency affect public employees and citizens’ perceptions of government. I also study how local political leadership, electoral incentives, and bureaucratic representation shape strategic planning, municipal finance, and everyday administrative practices in local governments.
tomas.soto@rutgers.edu
School of Public Affairs and Administration
Rutgers University–Newark
111 Washington Street
Newark, NJ 07102
Tomás Soto Jara 