BLACKBOARD WEBSITE: Click HERE to go to Blackboard for POSC 350

EVALUATION:

Class Participation -- 10%
Take-Home Essay #1 -- 10%
Mid-Term -- 20%
Take-Home Essay #2 -- 10%
Policy Brief -- 30%
Final Exam -- 20%

PROCEDURES:

As a point of fairness to your classmates, the honor code must be observed at all times and tests & written work must be handed in promptly. Tests must be handed in at the end of the class period. Written work handed in late will be penalized 5 points plus an additional 5 points for every additional 24-hour period. The class participation grade will be largely determined by the role-playing debates. Written work must be original work created for this course. Make-up exams and late course withdrawals will be permitted only under exceptional circumstances; do not assume that you will be allowed to take a make-up test or to withdraw from the course late in the semester. Readings should be completed by class time of the date listed. The professor reserves the right to alter this course outline as circumstances demand. For further discussion of course policies & procedures (including the grading scale and the attendance policy), see the POLICIES section of the course website that we reviewed on the first day of the semester. For further discussion of university policies regarding academic honesty, add/drop, disability services, inclement weather, and religious observances, see: www.jmu.edu/syllabus.

TEXTS:

Blake, Charles. Politics in Latin America. 2nd ed.; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008.
Sánchez, Yoani. Havana Real. New York: Melville House, 2011.
Smith, Peter. Democracy in Latin America. 2nd ed.; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Additional readings are available in online form.

COURSE OUTLINE:

REMEMBER: Many of the dates in this syllabus are hyperlinked. Right-click on the active links to download outlines and tables associated with the day's class session. A menu will pop up; left-click on "save link as" to get a dialog box for downloading the file. Specify the appropriate drive, folder, and file name and then left-click on save to download the file. These are PDF files for which you will need the Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader application. If your computer has Adobe installed, you also have the option of left-clicking on the link to load the file immediately into Adobe for viewing and/or printing.

The online articles referred to on the paper syllabus are detailed here -- item by item. Many are ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE or PROJECT MUSE listings while others are archived elsewhere.  Click on the link to go the article.  If I end up posting any readings to Blackboard, you will need to click on the Class Documents button and then open the folder with class readings to search for the readings listed there by due date. In ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE, if you want to print it out, please scroll down toward the bottom of the page where you can reformat the file for faster, paper-saving printing. PLEASE READ THE ONLINE ARTICLES FOR EACH CLASS SESSION IN THE ORDER LISTED HERE.

WEEK ONE

Jan. 9 – Colonization to the Present
= Blake, pp. 1-68

Jan. 11 – Development, Liberty, & Governance in Latin America
= Blake, pp. 71-105
= Smith, pp. 1-16

WEEK TWO

Jan. 16 -- KING HOLIDAY: no classes scheduled
= Smith, pp. 19-105

PART II: NATIONAL CASE STUDIES -- democratization and the politics of economic policy
Points of Emphasis: government institutions; parties & political leaders; major events & their political dynamics; democratization; the politics of economic reform; indigenous movements

Jan. 18 – Argentina I
= Blake, pp. 109-150
= Smith, pp. 106-131

WEEK THREE

Jan. 23 – Argentina II
= "Argentina 2002: A Case of Government Failure" The Cato Journal v23, #1 (2003): 29-31
= JSTOR "Fund-Razing in Argentina" Foreign Policy v81 (May-June 2005): 81-84
= reading posted to BLACKBOARD in Course Documents
= Smith, pp. 135-153

Jan. 25 – Argentina ROLE-PLAY DEBATE: Should Argentina emphasize market capitalism or state capitalism?
= "The End of Kirchnerism" New Left Review v53 (Sep.-Oct. 2008): 79-95
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Argentina: Beyond the 'High Dollar"" NACLA Report on the Americas v44, #5 (Sep.-Oct. 2011): 46-48
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Cristina's Whirl" National Review (11/28/11): 20-22
= Smith, pp. 154-179
{POLICY BRIEF QUESTION(S) and PRELIMINARY BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE}

WEEK FOUR

WEEK FIVE

Feb. 8 – Mexico I
= Blake, pp. 319-358
= Smith, pp. 263-288
{ESSAY #1 assigned}

WEEK SIX

WEEK SEVEN

Feb. 20 – Guatemala I
= Blake, pp. 277-316

Feb. 22 – Guatemala II
= PROJECT MUSE "Latin America's Indigenous Peoples" Journal of Democracy v18, #4 (2007): 127-142
{ESSAY #1 due}

WEEK EIGHT

Feb. 27 – Guatemala ROLE-PLAY DEBATE: Should Indigenous Guatemalans Support Expressly Indigenous Political Parties?
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Cleaned Slate? Mayan Troubles in Guatemala" Harvard International Review v28, #2 (2006): 10-11
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Before the Sunrise: Guatemala" The Economist 3/31/07
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Guatemala, the Peace Accords and Education" Globalisation, Societies and Education v7, #3 (2009): 383-409
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "The Return of the Iron Fist" The Economist 9/10/11

Feb. 29 – MID-TERM

WEEK NINE

Mar. 12 – Chile I
= Blake, pp. 197-234
= Sánchez, pp. ix-xv,1-30

Mar. 14 – Chile II
= "Is Transitional Justice Really Just?" Brown Journal of World Affairs v11, #1 (2004): 101-113
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Encounters with the Torturer" Mother Jones v31, #3 (2006): 32-35
= Sánchez, pp. 31-86

WEEK TEN

Mar. 19 – Chile ROLE-PLAY DEBATE: Should Human Rights Trials Be Held?
= OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS JOURNALS "Human Rights Trials in Chile during and after the 'Pinochet Years'" International Journal of Transitional Justice v4, #1 (2010): 1-20
= Sánchez, pp. 88-133

Mar. 21 – Cuba I
= Blake, pp. 237-274
= Sánchez, pp. 133-180
{ESSAY #2 assigned}

WEEK ELEVEN

Mar. 26 – Cuba II
= Sánchez, pp. 182-233

Mar. 28 – Cuba III
NOTE: The outline cuba2.pdf above contains the relevant materials for today.
= "Cuban-Americans: Hard-liners, Moderates, and Appeasers" Miami Herald 10/31/07
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Cuba's Chance" Time 3/3/08
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Washington's Fourth Interest" The Latin Americanist, v53, #3 (2009): 141-157

WEEK TWELVE

Apr. 2 – Cuba ROLE-PLAY DEBATE: Should the U.S. Embargo Continue?
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Engaging Cuba: A Roadmap" World Policy Journal v25, #4 (Winter 2008): 87-99
= "A New Course for U.S.-Cuba Policy: Advancing People-Driven Change" Cuban American National Foundation (April 2009)
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "'Chaos' and 'Instability': Human Rights and U.S. Policy Goals in Cuba"" NACLA Report on the Americas v44, #5 (Sep.-Oct. 2011): 16-18

Apr. 4 – Venezuela I
= Blake, pp. 361-400
{ESSAY #2 due}

WEEK THIRTEEN

Apr. 9 – Venezuela II
= "A Benign Revolution" Foreign Affairs v85, #4 (July-Aug. 2006): 195-198
= PROJECT MUSE "Venezuela: Crowding Out the Opposition" Journal of Democracy v18, #2 (2007): 99-113
= "Chavez's Fix" The Nation 3/10/08

Apr. 11 – Democratization, Poverty, & Inequality in Latin America
= Blake, pp. 403-438
= Smith, pp. 329-341

PART IV – SPECIAL TOPICS in LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS
Points of Emphasis: inter-American relations; drug policy; democratization

WEEK FOURTEEN

Apr. 16 – Venezuela ROLE-PLAY DEBATE: Is Contemporary Venezuela a Democracy?
= PROJECT MUSE "Hugo Chavez's 'Petro-Socialism'" Journal of Democracy v20, #2 (2009): 78-92
= SAGE Premier "Hugo Chávez’s First Decade in Office: Breakthroughs and Shortcomings" Latin American Perspectives v37, #1 (2010): 77-96

Apr. 18 – U.S.-Latin American Relations
= review Blake, pp. 57-60
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Trading Up?: The Uncertain Future of the FTAA" Harvard International Review v28, #1 (2006): 10-11
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "The Hemispheric Divide" The National Interest #100 (Mar.-Apr. 2009): 48-56
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Adios, Monroe Doctrine" The New Republic 12/30/09: 22-23

WEEK FIFTEEN

Apr. 23 – Drug Use, Drug Trafficking, & Drug Policy in the Americas
= MASTER FILE PREMIER "The Case Against Legalization" Newsweek International 11/1/99
= "Drugs: Towards a Post-Prohibitionist Paradigm" Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft [International Politics and Society] #3 (July 2010): 102-110
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "Battles Won, A War Still Lost" The Economist 2/12/05
= ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE "The New Cocaine Cowboys" Foreign Affairs v89, #4 (2010): 35-47

Apr. 25 – COURSE WRAP-UP
{POLICY BRIEF DUE}

**FINAL EXAM: Monday 4/30/12 1pm to 3pm**

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This page was last updated on: 1/9/12
If you have comments or suggestions about this site, please send e-mail to Charles Blake at blakech@jmu.edu.