 He obtained his Ph.D. in Law at the Universidad de Santiago, and has taught at the Universities of Granada, Santiago, Zaragoza, Cádiz and Complutense de Madrid.He has been Visiting Fellow at the Universities of Harvard, California in Berkeley and Ohio State University, Secretary and Dean of the School of Law at the Universidad of Cádiz, and Deputy Director of the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas.He has been a member of the Standing Committee for the Social Sciences, European Science Foundation, and is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Social Survey and of the Academia Europaea.