He holds a degree in sociology from the University of San Marcos (Lima-Peru) and a doctorate in political science from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Carrión has been a researcher at the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (Lima-Peru), a research professor at the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales in Ecuador (FLACSO-Ecuador), and an assistant professor at Troy State University in Alabama. He specializes in Latin American and comparative politics. Carrión is currently conducting research on mass support for authoritarian alternatives in Latin America and teaches courses in Latin American politics and data analysis for political science. He served as an Americas adviser for Freedom in the World.