Summer 2004

GOV f328L • Introduction to Latin American Government and Politics

Course Description

This is an introductory course that deals with the politics of Latin America. It assumes no prior coursework in the area, and does not require a reading knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese. It presents a brief historical overview of the region as well as a discussion of current social and economic problems. It then develops four basic political models that have endured over time - democracy, populism, authoritarianism (military rule), and revolution - and looks at case studies of each of these models and examines the benefits and costs of each model in comparison with the others. More time is spent on democracy, but the other three are also analyzed. The last part of the course deals with US-Latin American relations.

Grading Policy

2 in-class exams (short answer/essay) final exam Each counts for 1/3 of the final grade.

Texts

Skidmore and Smith, Modern Latin America Munck, Contemporary Latin America Other texts to be decided Duplicated materials

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