Fall 2005

GOV 328L • Introduction to Latin American Government and Politics

Course Description

Upper-division standing required. This course assumes no prior knowledge of Latin America or of its politics. It opens with a brief introduction to Latin America, including it s geography, history and socio-economic characteristics. It then develops a scheme of four basic political questions and four historical models that have been present in the area to address these questions. It then moves on to case studies of various countries and how they have attempted to address these questions, successfully and otherwise. The course finishes with a quick look at US-Latin American relations.

Grading Policy

2 midterms; each midterm is composed of short answers and an essay question Optional extra paper can be written Final Exam Each of these will count for about one third of the final grade

Texts

Charles Blake, Politics in Latin America. Ronaldo Munck, Contemporary Latin America. Michael Kryzanek, US-Latin American Relations, 3rd edition.

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