PS 134AA: COMPARATIVE POLITICS OF LATIN AMERICA, or DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN LATIN AMERICA Spring 2011

Instructor: Peter H. Smith 364 Social Science Building Office hours: Wednesday 11-1 TA/Grader: Kathryn Dove 320 Social Science Building Office hours: Wednesday 3:30-4:30

COURSE WEBSITE OR go to UCSD and then: Political Science Faculty Peter Smith Homepage Teaching PS134AA

REQUIRED READING Peter H. Smith, Democracy in Latin America: Political Change in Comparative Perspective (2005) Thomas E. Skidmore, Peter H. Smith, and James N. Green Modern Latin America, 7 th revised edition (2010) Course Reader: – –“STUDENTS BUY HERE” in “Student Store” –Create an account of login –Follow instructions

EXAMS AND ASSIGNMENTS Mid-term: Wednesday, May 4 (33% of grade) Final: TBA (67% of grade) Optional paper: Wednesday, May 25 (30% of course grade, reducing mid-term to 20% and final to 50%)

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?

COURSE SCHEDULE Mar 30: Introduction Apr 06: Cycles and Transitions Apr 13: Changing Roles of the Military Apr 20: Presidentialism, Parties, and Legislatures Apr 27: Economic Policies and Governmental Performance

SCHEDULE (cont.) May 04: MIDTERM May 11: Liberal and Illiberal Democracy/ Social Class and Satisfaction May 18: Politics of Gender May 25: The Rise of the New Left June 01: What Now? Democracy and U.S.- Latin American Relations

ELECTORAL REGIMES Democratic = free and fair Semi-democratic = free but not fair Oligarchic = fair but not free Nondemocratic = Nonexistent or openly fraudulent

NONDEMOCRATIC TRADITIONS Types of Authoritarian Regime ________________Power Structure___________________ Personalist Institutionalized Leadership ___________________________________ __________ Traditional Caudillo or Collective Junta or Military“Man on Horseback” Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Regime Technocratic State or One-Party State or CivilianSultanistic DespotismCorporatist Regime

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!