This course provides an introduction to Latin American politics and development issues for students of International Relations and Comparative Politics. It is a Level Three course, designed to complement the Department’s other offerings in Comparative Politics and to strengthen students understanding of the politics and international relations of the Western Hemisphere .

The course will place emphasis in the socio economic and political development of 19 th, 20 th and 21 st Centuries in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries and their place in a rapidly changing, increasingly interdependent world. Topics will include Latin America dependency since colonialism, the fight for democracy, independence and economic development, their strategies and theories to achieve economic independence, the Latin American external debt crisis, the US-Latin American relations and the process of integration in the hemisphere.

By the end of the course, students should have a basic understanding of the historical forces which have shaped state formation in Latin America ; the broad patterns of political development trends in the 20 th century and during the years of the 21 st century and future plans, and the degree these have been influenced by the international environment. Finally students should have gained a greater insight into a select number of Iberian-American societies (Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations) in an around the Caribbean Basin .

Students also will have a basic knowledge of the roots of contemporary Latin American systems and problems of development, causes and goals of revolution in the 20 th century, causes and consequences of the 1980s debt crisis and the structural adjustment recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), US foreign policy in the Americas and the LAC strategies to cope with globalization.

The course is divided into four sections. The initial part will focus on historical evolution since colonialism and the social and political legacies inherited from the colonial era. The second part will look at the development of political institutions and leadership styles and identify key forces and actors in Latin American societies. Section three will give an overview of some of the economic development periods through which Latin American has passed, , tracing the shift from export orientation to Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI), the debt crisis era, the Neoliberal Structrural Adjustments, the integration of the economies to deal with the global world created after the end of the Cold War, and the last section will be addressed to how Latin America is trying to overcome its economic and social underdevelopment and the immense gap existing between those who have and those who have not.

Pre-requisites: GT 11A . Will be an asset to have one or more courses in Spanish.

Coursework will account for 40% of the grade. One coursework essay of 12-15 type written, double–spaced A4 pages will count for 30% of the marks, while regular attendance and active participation in tutorials will provide another 10% of the assessment. The final examination will count for 60% of the marks.

For the coursework you are required to do a paper on one of the country of Latin America , a major event in the region, the US-Latin America relations, the strategies to achieve development in the region, the current political system and strategies of one specific country in Latin America and the Spanish speaking countries in the Caribbean .

The essay is due between the 15th to 17th of March 2005 and must follow the written rules that every student will receive with this Course Outline.

• T. Skidmore and P. Smith (Fourth ed. 1997) Modern Latin America , Oxford University Press, Oxford


• R.S. Hillman ed., Understanding Contemporary Latin America , Lynne Rienner, Boulder , Colorado , 1999.

• R. Gwynne and C. Kay eds (1999) Latin America Transformed: Globalization and Modernity, Oxford University Press, New York


• J. Kgrugel (1995) Politics and Development in the Caribbean Basin : Central America and the Caribbean in the New World , Macmillan, London


• V. Bulmer-Thomas (1995) The Economic History of Latin America since Independence , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge


• D. Lehman (1990) Democracy and Development in Latin America : Economics, Politics and Religion in the Post –War Period, Polity Press, Cambridge .


• L. Diammond, J.J. Linz, S. Lipset (1989)Democracy in Developing Countries: Latin America, Lynne Rienner, Boulder, Colorado


• J. Dominguez, (1998) Democratic Politics in Latin America and the Caribbean , Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore


• J. Dominguez, A. Lowenthal (1996) Constructing Democratic Governance: Latin America and the Caribbean in the 1990s Themes and Issues, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore


• J. Dominguez, A. Lowenthal (1996) Constructing Democratic Governance: Mexico , Central America and the Caribbean in the 1990s Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore


• J. Dominguez , A. Lowenthal (1996) Constructing Democratic Governance: South America in the 1990s, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore .


• Louis A. Perez Jr (1995) Cuba Between Reform & Revolution , New York , Oxford University Press, Oxford


• W. Smith , C. Acuna, E. Gamarra eds (1994)Latin America Political Economy in the Age of Neoliberal Reform: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives for the 1990s, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick


• J. Ditez ed (1995) Latin America ’s Economic Development Confronting Crisis, Lynne Rienner, Boulder , Colorado


• J. Hartlyn, L. Schoultz, A. Varas eds. (1992) The United States and Latin America in the 1990s: Beyond the Cold War, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill , N.C.

The Lecture Programme 2005