Analytical Issues in Latin American Politics
Government 390L, Unique number 38980
LAS 384L, Unique number 40450
Tuesday, 12:30 – 3:30, Batts 1.104
Spring 2012
Professor Wendy Hunter
Batts 3.138, 512-232-7247, [email protected]
Office Hours: Tues 8:30 – 9:30, Thurs 11:00 – 1:00, and by appointment
Course Description
This course is a graduate-level introduction to Latin American politics. It is designed to
provide students with the theoretical and analytical tools to engage in cross-national study
and research of political processes in Latin America. It explores alternative theoretical
approaches as well as substantive topics of major importance studied by scholars in the
field. Priority will be placed on critically examining the strengths and weaknesses of
various approaches to understanding political and economic change in the region. The
debates and theoretical currents that we will examine have been central not only in the
study of Latin American politics but also in the development of the sub-discipline of
Comparative Politics over the last thirty years.
Book to Purchase
Transitions from Authoritarian Rule. Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain
Democracies, by Guillermo O'Donnell and Philippe C. Schmitter. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press,1986.
Leftist Governments in Latin America: Successes and Shortcomings, edited by Kurt
Weyland, Raúl L. Madrid, and Wendy Hunter. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
All other readings have been posted on Blackboard.
1 Course Requirements
1. Seminar participation: The success of the seminar will depend first and foremost upon
the active engagement of students. Barring extraordinary circumstances, students should
always come prepared to discuss and debate the material. You must contact me ahead of
time if you plan to miss a session.
2. Two position briefs. Twice during the semester students will write a brief (3-4 doublespaced pages in length) on the readings in response to questions that will be handed out.
The same students who write for the week will lead off the class discussion. Students
will sign up to select these days.
3. Two short essays. Students will be required to write two short essays (6–8 doublespaced pages) that critically analyze the readings around given questions. These essays
must put forth and develop a thesis, not merely summarize/synthesize the readings.
4. Final Assignment: Students will be required to write a final integrative essay (10–12
double-spaced pages) in response to given questions OR come up with a research design
for a proposed study. Instructions will follow on the latter. Doctoral students who plan on
doing theses on Latin America are urged to consider the research design option.
Deadlines and Grade Determination
Seminar participation: 20 percent
Position papers: 5 percent each (students will sign up for two specific dates)
Two short essays: 20 percent each, due on February 29 and April 4
Final Essay: 30 percent, due on May 10 at 4PM
You should e-mail the class your position papers by 8:00 am on the day you will present.
Please submit the essays to my government department box by 4:00 of the day they are
due. I will not accept papers via e-mail. Late papers will be penalized by 1/3 of a letter
grade per day.
Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the
Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with
Disabilities, 471-6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/
A notice regarding academic dishonesty: You should all be familiar with the UT Honor
Code (or statement of ethics) and an explanation or example of what constitutes
plagiarism (see the University Honor Code: http://registrar.utexas.edu/catalogs/gi0910/ch01/index.html if you have any doubts about what constitutes cheating or plagiarism).
2 SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS
Week 1: 17 January – INTRODUCTION
No reading.
Week 2: 24 January – CULTURALISM
Frederick Turner, 1995. “Reassessing Political Culture” In Peter Smith, ed. Latin
America in Comparative Perspective.
Carlos Alberto Montaner. 2000. "Culture and the Behavior of Elites in Latin America."
In Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress. Lawrence E. Harrison
and Samuel P. Huntington, eds. New York: Basic Books.
Ronald Inglehart and Marita Carballo. 1997. “Does Latin America Exist? (And is there a
Confucian Culture?): A Global Analysis of Cross-Cultural Differences.” PS:
Political Science and Politics (March): 34-46.
Mitchell A. Seligson. 2002. "The Renaissance of Political Culture or the Renaissance of
the Ecological Fallacy?" Comparative Politics (April): 273-292.
Michael Coppedge. “Political Culture and Democratization.” In Approaching
Democracy: Theory and Methods in Comparative Politics (Cambridge University
Press forthcoming).
Week 3: 31 January - THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Theotonio Dos Santos. 1970. “The Structure of Dependence.” Chapter 22 in Mitchell A.
Seligson and John T Passé-Smith eds. 1998. Development and
Underdevelopment. (second edition) Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
Andre Gunder Frank. 1969. “The Development of Underdevelopment.” Chapter 21 in
Mitchell A. Seligson and John T Passé-Smith eds. 2008. Development and
Underdevelopment. (fourth edition) Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
Fernando Henrique Cardoso. 2009. New Paths: Globalization in Historical
Perspective. Studies in Comparative International Development 44,
4 (December): 296-317.
Patrick Heller, Dietrich Rueschemeyer and Richard Snyder. 2009. “Dependency and
Development in a Globalized World: Looking Back and Forward.”
3 Studies in Comparative International Development 44,4 (December) 287-295.
Atul Kohli. 2009. “Nationalist Versus Dependent Capitalist Development: Alternative
Pathways of Asia and Latin America in a Globalized World.”
Studies in Comparative International Development 44, 4,
(December): 411-434.
Erik Wibbels. 2009. "Cores, Peripheries and Contemporary Political Economy."
Studies in Comparative International Development 44, 4
(December): 441-49.
Barbara Stallings. 1992. “International Influence on Economic Policy: Debt,
Stabilization, and Structural Reform.” In Stephan Haggard and Robert R.
Kaufman, eds., The Politics of Economic Adjustment. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
Wendy Hunter and David Brown. 2000. “World Bank Directives, Domestic Interests,
and the Politics of Human Capital Investment in Latin America.” Comparative
Political Studies 33,1 (February): 113-143.
Erich Weede. 2008. "Why People Stay Poor Elsewhere," in Mitchell Seligson and John
T. Passé-Smith, eds., Development and Under-Development: The Political
Economy of Global Inequality. Boulder: Lynne Rienner: 367-389.
Week 4: 7 February – INTERNATIONAL DIFFUSION OF IDEAS AND
POLICIES
Stephen M. Walt. 2000. “Fads, Fevers, and Firestorms.” Foreign Policy
(November/December): 34-42.
Mitchell A. Orenstein. 2003. “Mapping the Diffusion of Pension Innovation,” in Robert
Holzmann, Mitchell Orenstein, and Michal Rutkowski, eds. Pension Reform in
Europe: Process and Progress, 171–193. Washington: World Bank.
Kurt Weyland. 2009. “The Diffusion of Revolution: ‘1848’ in Europe and Latin
America.”
International Organization 63, 3: 391-423.
Beth A. Simmons and Zachary Elkins. 2004. “The Globalization of Liberalization:
Policy Diffusion in the International Political Economy.” American Political
Science Review 98, 1 (February): 171-189.
Daniel Brinks and Michael Coppedge. 2006. "Diffusion is No Illusion: Neighbor
Emulation in the Third Wave of Democracy." Comparative Political Studies 39:
4 (May): 463–489.
4 Week 5: 14 February - RATIONAL CHOICE
Barbara Geddes. 1995. “Uses and Limitations of Rational Choice.” In Peter Smith, ed.
Latin America in Comparative Perspective.
Barry Ames. 2001. The Deadlock of Democracy in Brazil. Ann Arbor. The University
of Michigan Press. “ Introduction” and Chapter 1.
Scott Desposato. 2006. "Parties for Rent? Careerism, Ideology, and Party Switching in
Brazil's Chamber of Deputies." American Journal of Political Science 50,1
(January): 62-80.
Kurt Weyland. 2002. “Limitations of Rational-Choice Institutionalism for the Study of
Latin American Politics.” Studies in Comparative International Development 37,
1 (January): 57-85.
Merilee S. Grindle. 2000. Audacious Reforms. Baltimore and London: The Johns
Hopkins University Press. Chapters 1 and 2.
Week 6: 21 February – HISTORICAL INSTITUTIONALISM
Kathleen Thelen and Sven Steinmo. 1992. “Historical institutionalism in comparative
politics.” In Sven Steinmo, Kathleen Thelen, and Frank Longstreth eds.
Structuring Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
Kathleen Thelen. 1999. “Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics.” Annual
Review of Political Science 2: 369-404.
Ruth Berins Collier. 1982. ‘Popular Sector Incorporation and Political Supremacy:
Regime Evolution in Brazil and Mexico.” In Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Richard S.
Weinert, eds., Brazil and Mexico: Patterns in Late Development. Philadelphia:
Institute for the Study of Human Issues.
Kenneth F. Greene. 2007. How Dominant Parties Lose: Mexico’s Democratization in
Comparative Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press. Skim Chapter
1 and read Chapter 6 carefully. (pp.1-29; 173-209).
Wendy Hunter. 2007. "The Normalization of an Anomaly: The Workers' Party in
Brazil." World Politics 59 (April): 440–475.
5 Week 7: 28 February – PATHS TO AUTHORITARIANISM
David Collier. 1979. “The Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Model: Synthesis and Priorities for
Future Research.” In David Collier, ed., The New Authoritarianism in Latin
America. Princeton: Princeton University Press: 363-399.
Alfred Stepan. 1973. ‘The New Professionalism of Internal Warfare and Military Role
Expansion.” In Authoritarian Brazil: Origins, Policies and Future. Alfred Stepan,
ed., New Haven: Yale University Press.
Kenneth F. Greene. 2007. How Dominant Parties Lose: Mexico’s Democratization in
Comparative Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 2.
Corrales, J., and Penfold, M., “Venezuela: Crowding Out the Opposition,” Journal of
Democracy 18:2 (April 2007): 99-113.
Kenneth Roberts. Forthcoming. “Populism and Democracy in Venezuela under Hugo
Chavez.” In Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for
Democracy? Cas Mudde and Cristobal Kaltwasser, eds., Cambridge University
Press.
Week 8: 6 March – DEMOCRATIZATION
Guillermo O’Donnell and Philippe C. Schmitter. 1986. Transitions from Authoritarian
Rule: Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies. Baltimore and
London: The Johns Hopkins University Press (entire book).
Barbara Geddes. 2007. “What Causes Democratization?” in Carles Boix and Susan
Stokes, eds., Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics. Oxford: Oxford
University Press: 317-339.
Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way. 2006. “Linkage versus Leverage: Rethinking the
International Dimension of Regime Change.” Comparative Politics 38,4: 379400.
Week 9: SPRING BREAK – NO CLASS
Week 10: 20 March – THE CONSOLIDATION AND QUALITY OF
DEMOCRACY
Guillermo O’Donnell. 1996. “Illusions about consolidation.” Journal of Democracy 7, 2:
34-51.
Andreas Schedler. 2001. “Measuring Democratic Consolidation.” Studies in Comparative
6 International Development 36, 1 (Spring): 66-92.
Corporación Latinobarómetro. 2010. “Satisfaction with Democracy: The Case of Chile.”
In Latinobarómetro Report 2010. Santiago: Corporación Latinobarómetro.
Richard Snyder and David Samuels. 2004. “Legislative Malapportionment in Latin
America.” In Federalism and Democracy in Latin America, edited by Edward L.
Gibson. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Daniel M. Brinks and Sandra Botero. 2010. “Inequality and the rule of law: Ineffective
rights in Latin American democracies.” Unpublished paper presented at the
Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 2-5 in
Washington, D.C.
Week 11: 27 March – MARKET REFORMS
Javier Corrales. 2012. “Neoliberalism and its Alternatives.” In Routledge Handbook of
Latin American Politics. Forthcoming.
Barbara Geddes. 1994. "Challenging the Conventional Wisdom." Journal of Democracy
5, 4 (October): 104-18.
Kurt Weyland. 1998. “Swallowing the Bitter Pill: Sources of Popular Support for
Neoliberal Reforms in Latin America,” Comparative Political Studies 31, 5
(October): 539-568.
Kenneth Roberts. 2008. “The Mobilization of Opposition to Economic Liberalization.”
The Annual Review of Political Science 11: 327-49.
Andy Baker. "Why is Trade Reform so Popular in Latin America? A Consumption–
Based Theory of Trade Policy Preferences." World Politics 55 (April): 423–55.
Week 12: 3 April –CHALLENGES OF POVERTY AND INEQUALITY: SOCIAL
POLICY AND CLIENTELISM
Fernando Filgueira. 2011. “Fault Lines in Latin American Social Development and
Welfare Regime Challenges.” In Merike Blofield ed. The Great Gap: Inequality
and the Politics of Redistribution in Latin America. University Park,
Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press.
James McGuire. 2012. “Social Policies in Latin America: Causes, Characteristics, and
Consequences.” In Routledge Handbook of Latin American Politics. Forthcoming:
485- 536.
7 Nora Lustig. 2009. “Poverty, Inequality and the New Left in Latin America.” Woodrow
Wilson Center Update on the Americas: Democratic Governance and the ‘New
Left’ (5): 1-27. Take a brief look at the numbers.
Evelyne Huber. 2009. “Politics and Inequality in Latin America” in ‘New Approaches to
the Politics of Inequality in Developing Countries.’ Political Science and Politics
42(4) (October): 651-655.
Robert Kaufman. 2009. “Inequality and Redistribution: Some Continuing Puzzles” in
‘New Approaches to the Politics of Inequality in Developing Countries.’ Political
Science and Politics 42(4) (October): 657-660.
James Mahon, Jr. 2011. “Tax Reforms and Income Redistribution in Latin America.” In
Merike Blofield ed. The Great Gap: Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution
in Latin America: 313-347. University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State University
Press.
Matthew Layton and Amy Smith. 2011. “Social Assistance Policies and the Presidential
Vote in Latin America.” In AmericasBarometer Insights: 2011 66: 1-11.
Brian Faughman and Elizabeth Zechmeister. 2011. “Vote Buying in the Americas.” In
AmericasBarometer Insights: 2011 57:1-8.
Javier Auyero. 1999. “From the Clients Point(s) of View: How Poor People Perceive
and Evaluate Political Clientelism.” Theory and Society 28: 297-334.
Week 13: 10 April – POLITICAL PARTIES
Kenneth M. Roberts. 2012. “Parties, Party Systems, and Political Representation.” In
Routledge Handbook of Latin American Politics. Forthcoming: 113-144.
Michael Coppedge. 2007. Continuity and change in Latin American party systems.
Taiwan Journal of Democracy 3, 2 (December): 119-150.
Kenneth M. Roberts. 2002. ‘Social Inequalities without Class Cleavages in Latin
America’s Neoliberal Era.” Studies in Comparative International Development
36, 4 (Winter): 3-33.
Margarita Corral. 2009. “Do Parties Listen to the People? Views from the Americas.” In
AmericasBarometer Insights 12: 1-5.
Scott Mainwaring. 2006. The Crisis of Representation in the Andes. Journal of
Democracy 17, 3 (July): 13-27.
David Doyle. 2011. The legitimacy of political institutions: Explaining contemporary
8 populism in Latin America. Comparative Political Studies 44, 11: 1448-1473.
Raúl Madrid. 2008. The rise of ethnopopulism in Latin America. World Politics 60, 3
(April): 475-508.
Week 14: 17 April – REPRESENTATION OUTSIDE OF PARTIES
Guillermo O’Donnell. 1994. “Delegative Democracy.” Journal of Democracy 5: 1
(January): 55-69.
Kathryn Hochstetler. 2012. “Social Movements in Latin America.” In Routledge
Handbook of Latin American Politics. Forthcoming: 538-564
Maria Cook. 2012. “Labor.” In Routledge Handbook of Latin American Politics.
Forthcoming: 599-622.
Sebastian Karcher and Ben Schneider. 2012. “Business Politics in Latin America:
Investigating Structures, Preferences, and Influence.” In Routledge Handbook of
Latin American Politics. Forthcoming: 623-649
Lisa Baldez. 2012. “Gender.” In Routledge Handbook of Latin American Politics.
Forthcoming: 734-770.
Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy
Networks in International Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Chapter 1.
Beth A. Conklin and Laura R. Graham. 1995. “The Shifting Middle Ground:
Amazonian Indians and Eco–Politics.” American Anthropologist 97:4(December):
695–710.
Week 15: 24 April – RISE OF THE LEFT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
Kurt Weyland. 2010. “The Performance of Leftist Governments in Latin America:
Conceptual and Theoretical Issues.” In Kurt Weyland, Raúl L. Madrid, and
Wendy Hunter, eds. Leftist Governments in Latin America: Successes and
Shortcomings. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Javier Corrales. 2010. “The Repeating Revolution: Chavez’s New Politics and Old
Economics.” In Kurt Weyland, Raúl L. Madrid, and Wendy Hunter, eds. Leftist
Governments in Latin America: Successes and Shortcomings. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Evelyne Huber, Jennifer Pribble, and John D. Stephens. 2010. “The Chilean Left in
Power: Achievements, Failures, and Omissions.” In Kurt Weyland, Raúl L.
9 Madrid, and Wendy Hunter, eds. Leftist Governments in Latin America:
Successes and Shortcomings. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Raúl Madrid, Wendy Hunter, and Kurt Weyland. 2010. “The Policies and Performance of
the Contestatory and Moderate Left.” In Kurt Weyland, Raúl L. Madrid, and
Wendy Hunter, eds. 2010. Leftist Governments in Latin America: Successes and
Shortcomings. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Andy Baker and Kenneth Greene. 2011. “The Latin American Left’s Mandate: Free
Market Policies and Issue Voting in New Democracies.” World Politics 63, 1: 4377. Skim.
Week 16: 1 May – FINAL REFLECTIONS
Barry Ames, Miguel Carreras, and Cassilde Schwartz. 2012. “What’s Next? Reflections
on the Future of Latin American Political Science.” In Routledge Handbook of
Latin American Politics. Forthcoming: 1093-1162.
Jorge Dominguez. 2012. “The Blessings of Troubles: Scholarly Innovation in Response
to Latin America’s Challenges.” In Routledge Handbook of Latin American
Politics. Forthcoming: 1164-1200.
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