PSCI447 Topics in Latin American Politics: Democracy and Development in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile

Professor Klesner

Argentina, Brazil, and Chile returned to democracy in the 1980s after experiencing political instability and harsh military rule in the 1960s and 1970s. In each society, the new democratic regimes have promised to promote economic development while attending to issues of distributional justice. They have also been pressured to attend to the legacy of human-rights abuses under the military's rule. This seminar will explore political and economic developments under South America's new democracies. Themes will include the application of the neoliberal economic model in each society, the emergence of social movements, government policies intended to attend to problems of maldistribution of income, the challenge of prosecuting human-rights abuses, civil-military relations, and consolidation of democratic institutions (parties, legislatures, and decentralization of power). The seminar is intended especially for students who have returned from studying abroad in South America and those preparing to go to off-campus programs in the countries being studied. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Enrollment limited.