POLI 134AA
FALL 2014
COMPARATIVE POLITICS OF LATIN AMERICA:
DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATIZATION
COURSE WEBSITE
http://pages.ucsd.edu/~phsmith
OR go to UCSD and then:
Political Science
Faculty
Peter Smith
Homepage
Teaching
PS134AA
READINGS
Peter H. Smith, Democracy in Latin America: Political Change in Comparative Perspective, 2nd edition (2012)
Thomas E. Skidmore, Peter H. Smith, and James N. Green Modern Latin America, 8th revised edition (2014)
Selected Readings on Website
VIDEOS
“Battle of Chile”
“No” [Chile]
“Garden of the Forking Paths” [Argentina]
“In Women’s Hands” [Chile]
EXAMS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Mid-term Exam: Thursday, November 20 (33% of grade)
Analytical Paper: Thursday, December 11 (67% of grade)
KEY QUESTIONS
What explains the spread of democracy in Latin America? Given authoritarian past?
What kind of democracy? What quality?What’s new about the current phase of democratic
change? How does it compare to prior periods?What role (if any) for the United States?What implications for U.S. relations with Latin
America?
2014 ELECTION CYCLE
Costa RicaPanamaColombiaEl Salvador
Brazil (October 5 + 26)Bolivia (October 12)Uruguay (October 26 + November 30)
COURSE SCHEDULE
Oct 02: IntroductionOct 07: “Battle of Chile”Oct 09: Cycles and TransitionsOct 16: Changing Roles of the MilitaryOct 21: “No”Oct 23: Presidentialism and RepresentationOct 28: “Garden of the Forking Paths”Oct 30: The Role of Political Institutions Nov 04: Economic Policies and Performance Nov 06: Liberal and Illiberal Democracy
Nov 11: The Politics of Gender Nov 13: “In Women’s Hands”Nov 18: The Rise of the New LeftNov 20: MID-TERM EXAMNov 25: Country Brief: VenezuelaDec 02: What Now? Democracy and U.S.-Latin
American RelationsDec 09: Political Change in RetrospectDec 11: PAPER DUE
FRIENDLY ADMONITIONS
1. Try to put yourself in the place of a Latin American citizen,
2. Imagine how the world feels, not only how it looks,
3. View course material as relevant to political change in other regions and parts of the world,
4. Take videos seriously, and
5. Have fun!
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