Henry Dietz's major interests focus on Latin American politics. Within that region he is especially concerned with urban poverty and politics, civil- military relations, and parties and party systems. He also has interests in comparative methodology and survey research. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru in 1964-1966.

His books include "Urban Elections in Democratic Latin America" (1998), co-edited with Gil Shidlo, "Urban Poverty, Political Participation and the State: Lima 1970-1990" (1998), and "Capital City Politics in Latin America: Democratization and Empowerment" (2002), co-edited with David Myers. He has published articles in American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Social Science Quarterly, and the Journal of Political and Military Sociology, as well as chapters in many books. Dr. Dietz has won numerous teaching awards and has been inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at the University of Texas.