South American Politics
Political Science 333-001
Fall Semester 2011

 

Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Horan   
Office: Leutze Hall 261
Phone: 962-7929
Office Hours: TR 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and by appointment
Class Location and Time: LH 111; TR 3:30 - 4:45 p.m.

 

 

            This course is designed to introduce the student to the core political issues facing the South American region.  Students will be exposed to the region's colonial and early independence political history and its impact on contemporary processes which include the contemporary transition to democracy. The major problems facing this region: authoritarianism, political and economic development, democratic transition and consolidation, and indigenous and other minority group rights will be introduced in turn. Students will be encouraged to think critically about development and the problems associated with moving from underdeveloped to "developed" status.  What does this mean culturally?  Institutionally?  Is there a relationship between political institutions and political culture which is critical to achieving stable democracy and capitalism in these countries? Are there alternative paths to development?

 

Learning Goals:

 

Course Requirements:

 

·        Complete all readings (by the dates assigned) and attend class.

·        Class participation – 10%

·        Paper 1 – 20%

·        Midterm – 20%

·        Paper 2 – 20%

·        Final – 30%

 

Course Readings:

 

The two required books for this course have been ordered and are available at the UNCW Bookstore. The first book (Vanden) is a survey of Latin America and the major issues facing the region.  This text also deals with countries in a traditional comparative manner by offering case surveys of selected countries.  This text will be our core text for the course.  The second book is Che Guevara’s The Motorcycle Diaries. This is Guevara’s observations written during his trip through South America and provides insight into the day to day of the region as well as into the formative experiences that shaped one of the most important revolutionary leaders of all time. Two other texts, Hagopian’s The Third Wave of Democratization and Dominguez’s Constructing Democratic Governance, are recommended. Readings from these selections provide institutional and behavioral analysis of the ongoing democratic transition in the region. We will read some excerpts from these volumes via e-reserve. Additional journal articles will be placed on electronic reserve in Randall Library or I will provide the citation and you will access the article through the electronic subscription services in the Library. I am most likely to use the journals accessible via JSTOR. Additional resources are available on the course’s web page under the sections titled “lecture notes” and “links”.

 

Required:

Recommended:

Class Participation: 10% of your course grade comes from your participation in this class. This class is about you and what you will learn and learning is not a passive activity.  If you are not engaged in the readings and prepared to discuss them with myself and your colleagues then you have not taken the first necessary step to learning. If you are reading your Facebook page, texting, coming in and out of the classroom and doing anything else with technology not on this list but new to me during the semester I will reduce your participation grade in my class. The participation grade is based on your meaningful contribution to the class discussion about the readings.  This means not only do I expect you to have finished the readings by class time but I expect you to try to say something about the readings for that week. If the class level of participation is not maintained to my satisfaction I will institute readings based quizzes. These quizzes will not be announced ahead of time.

 

Papers: The writing assignments for this course are mid-level research papers. Each paper must be typed, paginated, double spaced and use a 12 point font size. All papers will use APSA style for in text and reference page citations. This url is a stable link to the citation guide: http://www.ipsonet.org/data/files/APSAStyleManual2006.pdf. Proper citation is like buying versus stealing. People who do not cite properly are stealing the ideas of others. Papers will be submitted as Word documents via the Blackboard shell for the course. Late assignments will be penalized one letter grade for each day they are late up to three days at which point you will be assigned a zero for the assignment.

 

            Paper 1: Political and Development History Analysis

 

            Students will choose one of the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay or Venezuela and assess the political and development history of that country in light of the analytical frameworks established by at least two of the major theoretical approaches used to study the region. Examples of such approaches include but are not limited to Modernization, Dependency, Dependent Development, and Political Culture. This paper should be between 7 and 8 pages in length.

 

            Paper 2: Policy Analysis

 

            Students will choose a different country from the list above and write and 8 to 10 page paper on a policy problem that requires action. This policy paper will be written from the perspective of the government in question. To complete this assignment correctly you will need to know and understand the current structure of the political system including its political institutions and major societal characteristics. The range of policy problems is virtually unlimited. I strongly recommend that you plan to meet with me to discuss your approach.

 

To support your research and writing efforts I will invite a University librarian to class or we will go over to Randall for a session. You should plan to begin thinking about both of the papers for this course in the second week of the semester. Proper planning will ensure that any technical, research or personal problems can be handled within the time frame of the semester so that late or sloppy work and subsequent grade penalties are avoided. I will provide additional information on the papers later in the semester.

 

Course Policies:

 

Academic Dishonesty: Cheaters will be graded "F" for the course. The UNCW Honor Code applies to this course and can be viewed here.

 

Religious Observance Policy:

In accordance with NC SL 2010-211, you are entitled to two excused absences for religious observances per academic year. You must inform me in writing the first week of class if you will be missing any classes due to religious observance and using one of the two permissible absences for the academic year. In addition, please inform the Registrar the first week of class who will then confirm your intentions to miss class with the impacted course instructors. Any absence for religious purposes will be considered unexcused unless you submit the request in writing the first week to either me and the Registrar.

 

Students with Disabilities: If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please make arrangements to meet with me immediately. Please bring your Disability Services documentation.

 

Evaluation/Grading: Students will be evaluated based on their completed work (quizzes, exams, essays, participation) and on their demonstrated ability to master the course material. This includes your grasp of factual concept and country information and your ability to apply general political concepts across country cases.

 

Grades are assigned on a straight ten point scale. Because I cannot award an A+ to truly outstanding students I do not use the +/- system. Grades are therefore assigned as follows:

 

A = 90-100%

B = 80-89%

C = 70-79%

D = 60-69%

F = 59% or below

 

Class Schedule – This is an approximate schedule of readings that can and most likely will be changed.  You should use this schedule and our classroom discussions to keep track of where we are in the readings so that you can maintain a high level of preparedness for each class session and discussion.  Note taking in class is encouraged.  Our readings for this course are demanding.  Many of the ideas in these readings will have relevance for your research topics – take notes during class discussions.

 

U.S. State Department Background Notes

 

8/25    Introduction to the Course

Ø  Vanden, Chapter 1, An Introduction to 21st Century Latin America

 

Section One – Regional Background: Major Issues, Major Actors

 

The Setting: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

 

8/30   

Ø  Vanden, Ch 2, “Early History

9/1      

Ø  Vanden, Ch 3 “Democracy and Dictators: A Historical Overview from Independence to Present Day”

 

Colonialism and Its Legacy: Authoritarianism, Race and External Powers

 

9/6   

Ø  Vanden Ch 4 “The Other Americans"

 

9/8   

Ø  Beck, Scott, Kenneth Mijeski and Meagan M. Stark. 2011. "?Que Es Racismo?: Awareness of Racism and Discrimination in Ecuador." Latin American Research Review 46 (1):103-125.

 

Patterns of Development and Structural Factors:  Import Substitution to the Washington Consensus, Neoliberalism and Beyond

 

9/13               

Ø  Vanden Ch 7, Political Economy

Ø  Cardoso and Faletto, 1979. Dependency and Development in Latin America, Chapter 2.

Ø  Evans Chapter 1 “Imperialism, Dependency and Dependent Development” & Chapter 2 “From Classic Dependence to Dependent Development”

 

9/15   

Ø  The Washington Consensus and John Williams on the history of the Washington Consensus

Ø  Dominguez, Chapter 3, Corrales "The Backlash against Market Reforms in Latin America in the 2000s"

 

Section Two – Regional and State focused ideas about the democratic experience

 

9/20   

Ø  Mainwaring, Scott and Frances Hagopian. "The Third Wave of Democratization in Latin America" Ch 1 in Hagopian and Mainwaring. Eds. The Third Wave of Democratization in Latin America: Advances and Setbacks. Cambridge University Press.

Ø  Whitehead, Lawrence 2008. "The Fading Regional Consensus on Democratic Convergence" in Dominguez and Shifter. Eds. Constructing Democratic Governance in Latin America. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

 

recommended:

            1) Olvera, Alberto. 2010. "The Elusive Democracy: Political Parties, Democratic Institutions, and Civil Society in Mexico" Latin American Research Review Special Issue:79-107.

            2) Dominguez and Shifter Ch 1, "Emerging Trends and Determining Factors in Democratic Governance"

 

9/22    Research session - meet in Randall Library room 1039.

             

 

Radicals and Revolutionaries: The Legacy and Democracy

 

9/27   

Ø  Hagopian Ch 9, Tanaka “Peru 1980-2000: Chronicle of a Death Foretold?”

Ø  Hagopian Ch 8, Bejarano and Pizarro “From Restricted to Besieged: The Changing nature of the limits to democracy in Colombia”

 

9/29   

Ø  Preston, Nancy. 2010. "The Struggle to Create a Radical Democracy in Bolivia." Latin American Research Review Special Issue: 59-78.

           The Motorcycle Diaries - all

        

10/4   

Ø  The Motorcycle Diaries - all   

 

10/6    Midterm Examination

 

10/11 Fall Break – No Class

10/13 Political Science Days – No Class, Mandatory attendance at one PLS Days event for each PLS course.

 Paper one due today in my department mailbox

 

Section Three – The Relationship between Democracy and Economy

 

Democracy, Dictatorship and Development- Brasil

 

10/18   

Ø  Vanden Ch 14, Brasil  

10/20   

Ø  Dominguez and Shifter Ch 7, Samuels “Brasil: Democracy under Lula and the PT”

Ø  Carter, Miguel 2010. "The Landless Rural Workers Movement and Democracy in Brazil" Latin American Research Review Special Issue: 186-217.

 

Democracy, Dictatorship and Development- Chile

 

10/25  

Ø  Vanden Ch 16, Chile

10/27   

Ø  Navia, Patricio. 2010. “Living in Actually Existing Democracies: Democracy to the Extent Possible in Chile.”  Latin American Research Review Special Issue: 298-328.

 

Democracy, Dictatorship and Development- Argentina

 

11/1

Ø  Vanden Ch 14, Argentina

Ø  Hagopian and Mainwaring Ch 2, Levitsky “Argentina: Democratic Survival amidst Economic Failure”

 

 Democracy, Dictatorship and Development- Mexico

 

11/3   

Ø  Vanden Ch 12, Mexico

Ø  Ortiz-Ortega, Adriana and Mercedes Barquet. 2010. "Gendering Transition to Democracy in Mexico." Latin American Research Review Special Issue: 108-137.

 

Section Four - Institutions and Actors: Structure versus Choice

Revolution, social movements and the grassroots

 

11/8   

Ø  Vanden Ch 10,  Struggling for Political Change: Revolution, Social and Political Movements in Latin America

11/10 

Ø  Vanden Social movements book - chapter.

 

Political Institutions: Executive, Legislature and Judiciary

 

11/15   

Ø  Vanden Ch 9, Politics, Power, Institutions and Actors

11/17    

Ø  Presidential Politics in South America, Linz “Presidential or Parliamentary Democracy”    

Paper Two Due Today

 

11/22    Article on the courts    TBA      

11/24    Thanksgiving Break

 

External Actors

 

11/29   

Ø  Vanden Ch 11, U.S. Latin America Relations

12/1   

Ø  Iran, China and other international interests in Latin America    

 

12/6 Last Day of Class - Recap

 

  

 

Final Exam

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

 3-6 p.m.