POLITICAL SCIENCE 164
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN LATIN AMERICA
Spring, 2000

Instructor: David Skidmore Office: Meredith 213
Office hours: TR 1-2; W 12-3 (appointments preferred) Office Phone Number: 271-3843
E-mail address: david.skidmore@drake.edu

INTRODUCTION:

This course is about the politics of Latin America. We will focus on three major themes: the transition from authoritarianism to democracy across much of the continent, Latin America's struggle to devise a successful strategy of economic development (with particular attention to recent moves toward liberal economic policies), and the close but uneasy relationship between Latin America and the United States. Since Latin America is too vast a region to cover comprehensively in one semester, we will focus much of our attention on three countries: Mexico, Brazil, and Nicaragua.

GRADING AND ASSIGNMENTS

There will be three take home exams (including the final). The dates are indicated in the reading schedule. You will also write a political profile paper to be submitted in writing and presented in class.

The grades in the class will be weighted in the following manner: The first two exams will each account for 20% of your grade while the final exam will account for 25%. The paper and presentation will account for 20% and class participation will account for 15% of your grade.


REQUIRED BOOK PURCHASES:

Roderic Ai Camp, Politics in Mexico, 3rd ed., 1999

Stephen Morris, Political Reformism in Mexico, 1995

George Collier with Elizabeth Lowery Quaratiello, Basta: Land and the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas, 1994

Rose Spalding, Capitalists and Revolution in Nicaragua, 1994

Other assigned readings are on reserve in the library or will be available on the web.

PROJECTS:

Each student will prepare a 6-8 page profile of a major political figure, past or present, from Mexico, Nicaragua or Brazil. You will present these profiles in class on designated days. Examples of possible subjects are listed below. In a slight exception to the above, three students will represent the three major-party candidates from Mexico's upcoming elections in a mock presidential debate.

Political profiles:
Emiliano Zapata (Mexico)
Lazaro Cardenas (Mexico)
Labastida (Mexico)
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas (Mexico)
Vicente Fox (Mexico)
Archbishop Samuel Ruiz (Chiapas)
Subcommandante Marcos (Chiapas)
Augusto Cesar Sandino (Nicaragua)
William Walker (Nicaragua)
Violeta Chamorro (Nicaragua)
Carlos Fonseca (Nicaragua)
Tomas Borge (Nicaragua)
Arturo Cruz (Nicaragua)
Eden Pastora (Nicaragua)
Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil)
Luis Inacio da Silva ("Lula") (Brazil)
Getulio Vargas (Brazil)
Chico Mendes (Brazil)

READING SCHEDULE

1/18: Introduction to course

1/20: In-class video. America series, "Capital Sins: Authoritarianism and Democratization"

1/25: What is democracy?

Terry Karl, "Dilemmas of Democratization in Latin America" (on reserve)

Tina Rosenberg, "Beyond Elections" (on reserve)

1/27: Democracy and Development in Latin America: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?

Scott Mainwaring, "The Surprising Resiliency of Elected Governments" (on the web)

Peter Hakim, "Is Latin America Doomed to Failure?" (on reserve)

Carlos Vilas, "Inequality and the Dismantling of Citizenship in Latin America" (on reserve)

2/1: Approaches to Understanding the Latin American Experience

Valenzuela and Valenzuela, "Modernization and Dependency: Alternative Perspectives on the Study of Latin American Underdevelopment" (on reserve)

Claudio Veliz, The Centralist Tradition of Latin America, pp. 3-15 (on reserve)

2/3: Mexico

Camp, Politics in Mexico, pp. 8-13, 158-176

2/8: Mexico

Camp, Politics in Mexico, pp. 103-152

Morris, Political Reformism, pp. 51-122

2/10: Mexico

Camp, Politics in Mexico, pp. 53-74

Morris, Political Reformism, pp. 1-11

2/15: Mexico

Morris, Political Reformism, pp. 17-50

2/17: Mexico

Camp, Politics in Mexico, pp. 179-201

2/22: Mexico

Oppenheimer, "The Banquet," ch. 5, Bordering on Chaos, pp. 83-110 (on reserve)

Morris, Political Reformism, pp. 17-50

2/24: Mexico

Strom Thacker, "NAFTA Coalitions and the Political Viability of Neoliberalism in Mexico" (on reserve)

Morris, Political Reformism, pp. 79-111

2/29: Mexico

Camp, Politics in Mexico, pp. 225-248

Chappell Lawson, "The Elections of 1997" (on reserve)

3/2: FIRST TAKE HOME EXAM DUE

3/2: Mexico/Chiapas

Collier, Basta, pp. 1-52

3/7: Mexico/Chiapas

Collier, Basta, pp. 53-124

3/14: Mexico/Chiapas

Collier, Basta, pp. 124-154

3/16: Mexico/Chiapas

Rossett, The Chiapas Rebellion, 51-101 (on reserve)

In-class video: "Ya Basta!"

3/21, 3/23: Spring break.

3/28: Mexico/Chiapas

Medea Benjamin, "Interview: Subcomandante Marcos" (on reserve)

3/30: Nicaragua

John Booth and Thomas Walker, "Insurrection, Revolution and Counterevolution in Nicaragua" (on reserve)

4/4: Nicaragua

Rose Spalding, Capitalists and Revolution in Nicaragua, 63-122

4/6: Nicaragua

Carlos Vilas, "What Went Wrong?" (on reserve)

4/11: Nicaragua

Rose Spalding, Capitalists and Revolution in Nicaragua, 156-188

4/13: Nicaragua

Gary Prevost, "The Status of the Sandinista Revolutionary Project" (on reserve)

Lisa Zimmerman, "Few Surprises at Sandinista Congress" (on reserve)

4/18: SECOND TAKE HOME EXAM DUE

4/18: Brazil

Skidmore and Smith, "Brazil: Development for Whom?" pp. 164-184

4/20: Brazil

In class video: Americas series: "The Garden of Forking Paths: Dilemmas of National Development"

Scott Mainwaring, "Elections, Parties and Society, 1979-1996," 88-135 (on reserve)

4/25: Brazil

Scott Mainwaring, "Weak Parties and Autonomous Politicians," 136-174 (on reserve)

4/27: Brazil

Gary Reich, "The 1988 Constitution a Decade Later: Ugly Compromises Reconsidered" (on reserve)

Amaury de Souza, "Cardoso and the Struggle for Reform in Brazil (on the web)

5/2: Brazil

Kenneth Maxwell, "The Two Brazils" (on reserve)

5/4: Conclusions

Jorge Dominguez, "Latin Americaís Crisis of Representation" (on reserve)

Final Exam