Spring 2010

GOV 390L • Social Policy in Latin America

Course Description

This course is a graduate-level introduction to Latin American politics. It is designed to provide students with the theoretical and analytical tools to engage in cross-national study and research of political processes in Latin America. It explores alternative theoretical approaches as well as substantive topics of major importance studied by scholars in the field. Priority will be placed on critically examining the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches to understanding political and economic change in the region. The debates and theoretical currents that we will examine have been central not only in the study of Latin American politics but in the development of the sub-discipline of comparative politics over the last thirty years.

Grading Policy

The grade will consist of two short papers, two longer essays, and a final take home exam.

Texts

Guillermo and Schmitter: Transitions from Authoritarian Rule

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